New £25 million technology for ambulance trust in 'world first scheme'

The East of England Ambulance Service is investing more than £25 million in new technology to help improve the quality of care given to patients. 

An iPad will be given to staff on the road for quick access to patient information such as allergies or medication that's being taken. 

The new electronic patient care record system will also include details of previous ambulance call outs and the patient's attendances at their GP surgery or acute hospital.

The Trust says it is the "first ambulance service globally to introduce this particular technology."

"This significant investment will transform the working lives of our crews by providing them with a huge array of information at their fingertips, in turn helping them to continue providing safe, high quality care to our patients", Dr Tom Davis, Acting Chief Executive at EEAST, said.

"The technology will let them view a full patient history for the very first time, making it easier to deliver individually-tailored care.

"In addition, we will also be able to provide hospital colleagues with much more information about our sickest patients before we even reach the emergency department so that they can prepare any special equipment or tests in advance.

"As well as resulting in better patient outcomes, we estimate this will also reduce handover times by around five minutes, which will help our crews get back on the road more quickly by freeing up an estimated 1,680 days every single year.

The Trust says it will stagger the roll out the new technology from January.