Ambulance trust puts IT on Toughbooks

The East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust is to go-live with a full-scale roll out of the Electronic Patient Report Form system next month.

England’s 11 ambulance trusts were expected to replace their paper-based reporting systems with the electronic system as part of the National Programme for IT in the NHS.

The East Midlands ambulance service is understood to be the first to complete a full-scale implementation, using mobile technology and devices.

Paramedics log-in to the system using a Panasonic Toughbook device. They can then use this to load information into the system while out in the field.

Control-room dispatchers are able to access information loaded by crew members in order to prepare hospitals for the arrival of patients, or to pass on relevant information to other ambulance crews or GPs.

Paramedics are also able to access resources such as treatment and medication guidelines, and GP contact details.

The East Midlands service said it expected to be able to cut the number of unnecessary patient transfers, which would ‘save millions’ year on year.

It has been anticipated full roll-out of the system across the 11 ambulance services could save up to £150m per year.

The system will also deliver benefits to service administrators, who can capture and analyse treatment data in real time, as it is inputted into the system.

Head of ICT, Andy Evans, said the trust needed a device which could withstand severe working environments.

“A lot of the time our crews are out in the cold, wet and snow, and in dirty conditions, such as under cars at road traffic incidents.

In these conditions it is very often impossible to keep the equipment clean and dry [and] they regularly take hard knocks.”

The devices incorporate 3G wireless capability, enabling ambulance crews to transmit and receive critical information via the N3.