Executive Summary
Hospitals are noisy with information but quiet on clarity. Patients queue at reception for basic updates, staff repeat the same answers all day, and guidance changes faster than printed posters can be replaced. Digital signage fixes the last‑mile of communication: the moment where the right message needs to meet the right people, in the right place.
With centrally managed screens across receptions, clinics, wards, pharmacies, staff areas and public spaces, hospitals can reduce pressure on desks, improve patient understanding, and keep guidance consistent across sites. Done well, digital signage isn’t a set of televisions on the wall; it’s a governed, accessible, measurable communications system.
Airwave Healthcare delivers the platform, templates, and service wrap to make this work from day one — securely, at scale, and with the governance NHS estates, IT and comms teams expect.
The communication gaps hospitals struggle with
Before exploring solutions, it is important to recognise the challenges: inconsistent messages, delays in updates, repeated queries, and inaccessible notices. These gaps create frustration for patients and inefficiency for staff. Digital signage directly addresses these weaknesses.
Inconsistent messagesDifferent buildings show different instructions, while out-of-date print lingers on walls.
Last-minute changesClinic delays, room moves, and visiting-rule updates don’t reach people in time.
Staff overloadRoutine queries and interruptions drag clinicians and admin staff away from their work.
Repeated questionsReception teams field the same asks — opening hours, directions, parking, pharmacy status.
Accessibility risksSmall type, low contrast, and jargon make key information hard to act on.
Where digital signage helps most (by location)
Screens provide greatest value when placed with purpose. This section outlines the areas of the hospital where signage delivers tangible benefits, and the specific outcomes to aim for in each.
1) Main reception and entrances
- Welcome, today’s notices, live wait-time or clinic status boards.
- Wayfinding to clinics, imaging, wards, pharmacy, café and exits.
- Safety and infection-control prompts.
Outcome to aim for: fewer basic enquiries at the desk; faster self-navigation.
2) Clinics and waiting areas
- “Now calling” or “Running X minutes behind” boards (manual or data-fed).
- Prep instructions (testing, paperwork) and patient information videos.
- Clear visitor guidance and chaperone policies.
Outcome to aim for: lower perceived wait times; better appointment preparedness.
3) Pharmacy
- Queue screens, opening times, collection points, OTC guidance and safety notices.
Outcome to aim for: smoother flow; fewer “are you open?” interruptions.
4) Wards and day units
- Visitor hours, hand-hygiene reminders, meal rounds, discharge steps.
- Multi-language support for key notices.
Outcome to aim for: consistent, compliant messaging without paper churn.
5) Staff areas
- Rota highlights, escalation protocols, training reminders, rapid alerts.
Outcome to aim for: fewer broadcast emails; faster awareness of priority updates.
6) Public spaces (corridors, cafés, lifts)
- Wayfinding nudges, wellbeing content, site news, and community information.
Outcome to aim for: less congestion; better patient experience across the estate.
What makes it work?
Running digital signage well is less about technology and more about structure. Clear ownership, defined priorities, accessibility standards, and measurable outcomes ensure the system remains current, trusted, and compliant. With these guardrails in place, signage becomes a reliable communications channel rather than another piece of visual clutter.
Governance
Ownership matrix
Define who creates, approves and publishes content by location (Comms, Clinical Leads, Estates, Pharmacy, Security).
Priority ladder
Normal → important → urgent → emergency, with time-boxed expiry rules.
Playbooks
Templates for clinic delays, room changes, visitor policy, severe weather, system downtime.
Accessibility and inclusion
Align with WCAG principles and the NHS Accessible Information Standard.
Minimum type size for viewing at 3–5 metres; high-contrast colour pairs; plain language copy.
Subtitled videos; avoid text-heavy slides; use pictograms and arrows for wayfinding.
Provide multi-language variants for critical notices.
Measurement
Reception
% reduction in basic desk enquiries; average queue length.
Clinics
Accuracy of displayed wait times; FFT comments referencing information clarity.
Pharmacy
Queue time variance; interruption rate at the counter.
Staff areas
Acknowledgement rate for critical updates.
Report monthly; retire content that isn’t read.
Platform essentials: simple, secure, scalable
Core Capabilities
Built for single or multi-site NHS estates, this platform makes digital signage easy to run at scale: central control for daily updates, instant overrides for urgent messages, and security your IT team can trust. It keeps content current, resilient and fully auditable.
Schedule by site, building, department or screen group.
Trust-wide or building-level takeovers in seconds.
Secure device enrolment, health monitoring, remote updates.
Role-based access with publish approvals and change history.
Cached playlists and fallbacks for network blips.
Wait-time feeds, alerting systems, intranet pages, calendars.
Modern authentication, network segmentation, encrypted transport.
Implementation: from pilot to scale
Phase 0 — Scoping (1–2 weeks)
Map priority locations and screen counts per site. Agree governance, KPIs and accessibility standards.
Phase 1 — Pilot (4–6 weeks)
10–20 screens across reception, one clinic, pharmacy and one staff area. Use Airwave templates; run 3–4 planned scenarios (clinic delay, room move, pharmacy update, emergency message). Measure results vs baseline.
Phase 2 — Scale (6–12 weeks)
Roll out to remaining buildings; train local publishers; formalise monthly reporting.
Phase 3 — Optimise (ongoing)
Quarterly content refresh; add data feeds where useful; prune low performers.
Costs and ROI (what to expect)
Understand the investment and the payoff at a glance. Exact figures vary by site size, screen count and network readiness, but the cost components and savings levers are consistent across NHS estates.
Indicative components; final pricing is confirmed after survey and scoping.
One-time: screens/players, mounts, cabling where needed, installation.
Recurring: software licence, support, content services if required.
Where savings show up: fewer basic enquiries at reception, less printed material and reprints, quicker response to changes, reduced staff interruptions, improved patient wayfinding and experience.
Mitigate the risks
Without clear guardrails, even the best signage programmes can slip. These are the most common risks we see, and the controls we apply from day one to keep content reliable, readable and secure
Content rotFixed by clear ownership, expiry rules and monthly reports.
Screen sprawlStart with a pilot; expand by use case, not by corridor.
Unreadable messagesEnforce templates with tested type/contrast.
IT bottlenecksRemote management, standard builds and clear network requirements.
Frequently asked questions
How easy is it to update content across multiple sites?
Easy! Updates can be published from a central dashboard, either to a single screen, a department, or an entire Trust in seconds. Templates standardise content so local staff can update their own notices without losing consistency
What happens if a screen loses connection or goes offline?
Each player caches scheduled content locally, so it continues to display even if the network drops. If there’s an outage, IT and support teams receive automated alerts so the issue can be resolved quickly.
Can we control who publishes content, and how is governance managed?
Yes. Role-based permissions mean only approved users can publish, and optional two-step approval workflows add an extra layer of governance. Every update is logged in an audit trail so you always know who published what, when, and where.
Who can publish content?
Role‑based permissions with optional two‑step approvals.
How do we ensure accessibility?
Templates are designed for large type, high contrast and plain language; we support multi‑language variants and subtitles.
How do you handle urgent or emergency messaging?
Designated users can trigger overrides that take over all screens in a building or across the Trust within seconds. Emergency templates (fire, severe weather, system downtime, etc.) are pre-built and approved to avoid delays.
What are the ongoing costs for licensing, support, and maintenance?
We offer clear pricing: a one-off cost for hardware and setup, then an annual licence and support fee per screen. This includes software updates, remote monitoring, and helpdesk support. There are no hidden extras.
How scalable is it if we start with one department but want to expand trust-wide?
The system is designed to start small and scale. A pilot might be 10–20 screens, and from there it can grow across clinics, staff areas, wards, and public spaces without needing new infrastructure or software
