Sussex Ambulance Service NHS Trust has resorted to manual
processes until it can fix a fault in its IT system.
The system is part of the trust's control centre
software and is vital in enabling ambulances to respond to the 600
to 900 emergency calls it receives every day.
After two weeks of intermittent faults in its control centre's
despatch and mapping software, which started on 22 February, Sussex
Ambulance Service decided to switch to pen and paper. This was
"through choice" and "in a controlled way, as a precaution, while
we try to isolate the fault", said a spokeswoman.
The despatch system is eight years old, one of the oldest in the
UK. It handles the despatch and location of ambulances on accident
and emergency calls and is part of a larger IT system that uses
satellite-based vehicle tracking and digital mapping.
Sussex Ambulance Service uses Terrafix, a digital communications
and mapping system that encodes data and transfers it through a
secure radio channel. It links to satellite systems in the vehicles
and a separate computer-aided despatch system, which is where the
fault developed.
On several occasions the intermittent fault caused screens to
freeze, the system to breakdown and links with other computer
systems to fail.
The trust is bringing in external IT companies to identify where
the fault is, but said it would cost more than £1m to replace the
ageing kit.
David Davies, a spokesman for public services union Unison, said
the problem left ambulance crews unable to respond to emergencies
as well as they could if the computers were working. He added that
if performance was affected, which he said was likely, there would
be an implication for people with life-threatening injuries and
urgent medical problems.
But the trust stressed that the manual system, although not ideal,
was safe, and allowed it to despatch and locate ambulances in the
same way as before. "Staff practice using a manual pen and paper
system as a fall-back. Phone and radio systems are unaffected, so
we can receive calls in the same way," said the spokeswoman.