The Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre is the first Victorian hospital to use the app, after launching at St Vincent’s Hospital and the Sydney Eye Hospital.
The Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and Australian digital wayfinding solution BindiMaps have launched an app aimed at assisting people with visual impairment to navigate the hospital.
The app has been compared to Google Maps, but has been designed to work indoors, with 10 to 20 times more accuracy than GPS technologies currently offer in indoor settings.
The app provides users with a “choice of audio directions, text or map view throughout the hospital, providing accurate, real-time and step-by step directions to any destination”.
The app works by using smartphone sensors, Bluetooth beacons situated on fixed structures like ceilings and walls, and a mapping and route guidance system.
The app is already used at St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney and the Sydney Eye Hospital, with data indicating that most users searched for medical wards and departments, bathrooms, entrances and exits.
“Upon arrival at a hospital, patients and visitors often face confusing corridors and unfamiliar medical lexicon that can bewilder and intimidate,” said BindiMaps founder and CEO Anna Wright.
“Naming conventions, layouts, and definitions also vary from one hospital to another, while departments can move around with the expansion and addition of buildings, resulting in out-of-date signage.
“This is challenging enough for those who do not have a disability or vision impairment. But when you add a disability or vision impairment into the mix – which is the case for a high proportion of hospital users – it can lead to heightened frustration and significant difficulty in accessing essential services.
“The truth is, static signage cannot keep up with the evolving nature of hospitals, which is where BindiMaps’ proprietary accessible wayfinding technology could make all the difference in the world to patients and visitors, and the staff who care for them so well.”
The technology launched at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre after concerns that, although abiding by building regulations, hospitals remain inaccessible for disabled Australians. In 2021, the Federal Circuit Court ruled that Sunshine Coast Hospital’s design contravened disability legislation, even though the hospital was in line with building codes.
Ms Wright said the court’s ruling “sets a precedent that puts all Australian hospitals at risk of legal action”.
“And it wouldn’t be because the hospital was trying to skirt any laws; it would be because our building codes are completely inadequate considering the new technologies available in 2023.”
Dr David Speakman, a senior doctor and former Chief Medical Officer at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre applauded the technology.
“We know how challenging it can be to receive a cancer diagnosis or to visit someone in hospital with cancer, especially for people with vision impairment,” he said.
“The BindiMaps system provides an additional level of support to people coming to Peter Mac and makes life far simpler for patients and others with a disability.
“While it’s designed to assist those with vision impairment, the system is also available to help anybody who downloads the app to navigate a busy hospital and access some of the key areas at Peter Mac.”
