AhospitalhasbeenforcedtobanPokemonGoplayersfromthesiteafteramonsterhub(妖怪枢纽站)wasfoundintheA&Edepartment.RoyalStokeUniversityHospitaldiscoveredthatitscasualtyunit(急诊室)isonthesamespotasaPokemonGo‘gym’——whereplayerscantraintheirnewlycaughtNintendocreatures.

TheUniversityHospitalsofNorthMidlandsTrustagreedlastweekthatpatientscanplayPokemonGoonwardsbecausewalkingaroundishealthy.ButtheTrusthasbeenforcedtopostawarningonitswebsiteaboutpublicaccesstoA&E.ItsaidifPokemonGobecomesamajorannoyanceitwouldaskNintendo——whichdecidesonthelocationsofthevirtualgymsaccordingusingGPS——tohaveitremovedfromthepremises(道馆).

KevinParkerassociatechiefnursesaid“MembersofthepublicwhodonotneedtobeatRoyalStokeshouldnotattempttoenterA&Eoranyotherpartofthehospitalbuildingtoplaythegame.TheA&Edepartmentisincrediblybusythissummer.Wewantthepublictounderstandthatanybodywhovisitsthehospitalsolelytoplaythegamewillprovideanunwanteddistractiontotheimportantworkofthehospital.I’malsoawareofvariousreportsinthemediaofunsafeareasthatthegamehasbeenplayedin.”

“RoyalStokeUniversityHospitalisasafeareawheregamerscanenjoyPokemonGo.”MichelleHarristheTrust’smanagersaidthegamecouldstillbeplayedbythosealreadyinhospital.“WerecognizethatthePokemonGogameencourageswalkingandexercisewhichissomethingthattheTrustisequallykeentopromote”shesaid.

Thereareanumberof“walkingroutes”establishedthroughouttheTrustthatcanbeusedtocombinewalkingandplayingthegame.“Walkingjust30minutesfivetimesaweekcanhelpreducetheriskofpreventableillnessessuchasobesitydiabetesandheartdisease.”

TherehavebeenseveralwarningsaboutthegamesinceitsUKrelease.LastweekagroupofteenagersinWiltshirewereleftstrandedalmost100ftundergroundaftertheygotcarriedawaysearchingforPokemonGocharacters.Thefourboysaged16and17endedupgettinglostandhadtowaittogetaphonesignalbeforetheycouldcallforhelp.EventuallytheycontactedDorsetandWiltshireFireandRescueteamwhotookthemtosafety.DamienBenceofthefireandrescueteamsaid:“PokemonGoi