NHS Ambulance Trust Has Tested LiFi Technology: Lessons Learned from an Innovative Connectivity Trial
Around September 2024, North West Ambulance Service explores emerging optical wireless technology alongside IoT devices to improve operational efficiency and sustainability
The North West Ambulance Service (NWAS), one of ten ambulance trusts serving England, recently concluded an innovative trial testing whether LiFi technology combined with connected Internet of Things (IoT) devices could enhance operational efficiency and reduce energy consumption. Covering the northwest region with 104 ambulance stations, NWAS provides emergency ambulance response via the 999 system and operates the NHS 111 advice service for the area.
While the trial demonstrated valuable benefits from IoT sensors and Power over Ethernet (PoE) lighting, the results indicate that LiFi device sensor technology is not yet mature enough for widespread NHS deployment. The case study offers important insights for healthcare organisations considering emerging connectivity solutions.
The Operational Challenge
Ambulance trusts face unique challenges due to their extensive geographical coverage and numerous dispersed sites. Unlike acute hospitals with centralised infrastructure, these organizations must ensure connectivity deployments deliver value across diverse locations, situations, teams, and working methods.
This complexity makes large-scale deployments challenging, where even small efficiency improvements can compound into significant benefits when multiplied across numerous sites and staff members. NWAS IT teams continuously seek ways to streamline daily tasks including stock management, equipment audits, temperature monitoring, and waste disposal, administrative duties that directly impact clinical work efficiency.
While various wirelessly connected devices show promise for these tasks, the trust also identified the need for connectivity methods enabling personal devices to communicate information securely and reliably. Any solution required several critical capabilities:
Efficiency, reliability, and security across diverse clinical use cases, including potential ambulance and mobile vehicle applications
Automation of difficult, repetitive, and time-consuming tasks
Strong financial return on investment alongside efficiency gains
A Dual-Technology Approach
The trial tested two initiatives simultaneously: IoT devices deployed throughout the facility and a designated area using LiFi technology at the Chester Ambulance station.
LiFi (Light Fidelity) represents a wireless communication technology using light to transmit data and position information between devices, unlike Wi-Fi which relies on radio frequencies. In this implementation, devices equipped with transmitters and receivers communicate with LED light fittings through light modulations. The trust employed a Power over Ethernet lighting design to form the main device access points for the LiFi solution.
A critical practical difference emerged during testing: while Wi-Fi's established presence means many devices include built-in receiving technology, LiFi requires external dongles and maintaining line-of-sight to access points. Additionally, despite indoor deployment, various lighting conditions could affect connection effectiveness.
The potential benefits of LiFi focus on reliability, speed, and security. By transmitting data through light, the technology avoids wireless signal congestion common when multiple Wi-Fi devices operate in shared spaces, while offering very low latency to connected devices.
Due to limited commercial availability of LiFi solutions, an inevitable characteristic of emerging technologies, the trust scaled their test to one meeting room, creating a controlled "proof of concept" environment.
IoT Devices Complement Connectivity Testing
Alongside the LiFi deployment, the trust installed various Wi-Fi-enabled IoT devices including:
Bin level monitors
Water leak detectors
Temperature and humidity monitors
Wellbeing and air quality sensors
Power over Ethernet lighting to monitor and control LED fixtures
The trust anticipated multiple benefits from these technologies:
Reduced energy usage supporting sustainability targets
Lower operating costs with expected payback within four years
Improved staff perception of connectivity and fewer reported issues
Solutions to electromagnetic interference common in busy ambulance stations
Time savings through automation of manual tasks
Improved clinical and non-clinical waste collection efficiency
Reduced audit processes through automation
Freed radio frequencies otherwise consumed by Wi-Fi
This dual approach allowed comparison between established connectivity methods (IoT devices) and emerging technology (LiFi), providing comprehensive insights into both solutions.
Deployment and Technical Challenges
The trial deployed in September 2024, with IoT devices and PoE lighting placed in twelve station areas and LiFi sensors installed in one meeting room. The system topology integrated IoT sensors and PoE lighting alongside LiFi access points, with reference devices connecting to standard station Wi-Fi for comparison.
Implementation encountered several challenges. As an emerging technology, LiFi has limited suppliers, causing delays in procurement and technical design finalization. A pre-deployment site survey identified unanticipated obstacles including limited crawl space, asbestos presence, and potential ceiling structural weaknesses. These issues necessitated installing access panels in each room rather than the originally planned cable management system, a change requiring approval from operational management teams and estates.
To facilitate adoption, the trust created educational materials explaining LiFi dongle usage and connection procedures for the enabled meeting room.
Trial Results: LiFi Performance
The LiFi deployment yielded mixed results across several evaluation criteria:
Installation Ease: LiFi access points integrated smoothly with the PoE lighting system, making installation straightforward as part of the retrofit process.
User Experience: Connection proved intuitive, with only 10% of staff requiring assistance after reading provided materials. Users successfully connected laptops using provided dongles, though mobile phone connectivity proved more challenging.
Performance Metrics: Average connection speeds in the LiFi-enabled meeting room reached 65 Mbps, slightly below the standard Wi-Fi connection's 67 Mbps. Performance degraded noticeably when connecting from the edges of the receiver's visual field.
Usability Constraints: Staff reported that Wi-Fi allowed greater freedom of movement, as LiFi's line-of-sight requirements proved restrictive. The need to maintain position relative to access points limited practical utility.
Market Readiness: Limited hardware availability from suppliers forced the trust to significantly reduce initial trial scope, highlighting the technology's early-stage market maturity.
IoT and PoE Lighting: Clear Benefits
The IoT sensors and PoE lighting delivered more tangible operational improvements:
Automated Alerts: Bin level monitors now send email notifications when approaching capacity, enabling timely collections and reducing unnecessary waste management visits. Centralized dashboards display bin status across the facility.
Centralized Lighting Control: PoE lights connected via ethernet cables simplified repairs and maintenance. Light levels are managed from a central dashboard with scheduling capabilities, improving both convenience and energy efficiency.
Enhanced Space Management: Radiator valves and wall switches provided remote visibility into room usage, ensuring heating and lighting activate only when spaces are occupied. This data enables better room occupancy planning and more efficient resource allocation.
Key Lessons and Recommendations
The trial generated valuable insights for healthcare organisations considering similar technologies:
LiFi Requires Strong Use Cases: Between requiring external USB dongles and limited mobility when connected, LiFi is not suitable for general connectivity purposes. However, in environments with significant radio frequency congestion or for static devices, LiFi could serve as a viable complement to standard Wi-Fi solutions.
New Builds Offer Advantages: Retrofitting PoE lighting, LiFi, and IoT devices into existing infrastructure proved more disruptive than anticipated, extending the timeline to financial break-even. Organizations constructing new facilities can integrate these technologies far more easily and realize benefits immediately.
Incremental Implementation: For new PoE and IoT deployments, starting with smaller installations allows testing and fine-tuning before scaling up. This trial faced particular challenges as Chester ambulance station lacked existing infrastructure, requiring significant alterations to accommodate trialed technologies.
Dedicated Project Leadership: The trust recommends having a dedicated project lead either based at or stationed near the deployment site. With their closest team member over 60 minutes away, providing on-site support during commissioning proved challenging when issues affected staff ability to use station areas.
Measurable Outcomes: When assessing deployment success, establishing clear measurement methods without external influencing factors is essential. The trust could only consult total electricity bills to validate cost savings, an unreliable metric as electric car charging points were also installed during the trial period. Ideally, lighting circuit consumption would have been measured independently before and after deployment.
Innovation Requires Exploration
NWAS explored the practical potential of IoT devices and LiFi solutions in clinical settings using innovative technologies. The trust found that IoT devices and PoE lighting successfully automated many tasks that would otherwise consume valuable time from frontline care delivery.
However, between installation challenges and mediocre usability once operational, the results demonstrate that LiFi device sensor technology is not currently mature enough for widespread NHS deployment. This conclusion provides valuable guidance for the healthcare sector, ruling out technologies is as important as recommending them.
To meet evolving challenges of delivering modern care, the imperative to innovate remains stronger than ever. This trial should be commended for exploring how better connectivity can improve patient outcomes and value for money. LiFi will continue maturing and may find applications in new builds or bespoke scenarios where its unique characteristics address specific challenges.
NWAS plans to build upon the IoT devices and PoE lighting already installed, continuing their pursuit of innovative solutions that enhance operational efficiency and patient care. The trust's willingness to test emerging technologies, and share both successes and limitations, provides the healthcare sector with crucial information for making informed connectivity decisions.
