The Hybrid Connex Digital Ambulance of the Future project: THANK YOU
Firstly, a big thank you for agreeing to participate in one of the most exciting projects ever undertaken on behalf of NHS ambulance services, as we seek to map out and build the prototype for the first ever fully connected digital ambulance of the future. As an ambulance service professional, we understand that your time is extremely valuable, especially in the current climate. However, we also understand that our project will only be able to deliver what ambulance services really need with the input of people like you, so again, we say thank you.
About the project
This is a partnership between the NHS and a range of commercial technology companies with €5.7m of funding from the European Space Agency (ESA). This joint NHS and commercial technology initiative will provide the UK ambulance sector with a resilient connectivity solution for ambulances which combines 4G, 5G and satellite connections, and means that the crew onboard the vehicle will never be offline.
We hope this will enable a whole range of applications to be able to work together to significantly improve patient experiences while transforming a large part of the way ambulance services deliver ‘see and treat’ care.
In short, we want to create the blueprint for the fully connected digital ambulance that will be a game changer in the way ambulance services will be able to provide the majority of care to patients without unnecessary conveyance to emergency departments, while providing a whole range of new on-the-spot services such as diagnostics and greater use of technology to enable specialists located remotely to treat patients there and then.
We already know that the ambulance service’s response to COVID-19 has accelerated digital ways of working, leading to better sharing of medical records and faster clinical decision making, which in turn has also improved collaboration between all elements of local integrated care systems. However, there is now a fantastic opportunity to take the next steps towards better care and patient experience, improved operational capability through enhanced connectivity and significant and measurable improvements in performance across the whole urgent and emergency care system. These include reductions in avoidable conveyance to EDs and the eradication of many unnecessary handover delays.
Another key benefit of an effective hybrid solution will see the complete resolution of the current problem where many ambulances are fitted with multiple SIMs supporting different devices and requirements.
