How innovative IT is helping the emergency services better serve the public

Supporting thousands of people each year, the emergency services are one of the most critical sectors for maintaining public health, safety and wellbeing. To offer the best possible support, it is essential that organisations remain at their most agile and efficient. As we move towards an increasingly digital world, continued investment in cutting-edge technologies play a key role in helping emergency services stay ahead of the curve.

Breaking barriers with strategic investment

Despite the importance of the emergency services, senior leaders are frequently grappling with funding and cost management challenges. As such, they’re often working with legacy and outdated systems which may be impeding their effectiveness.

Research from Virgin Media O2 Business and Censuswide[1], found that 26 per cent of public sector decision-makers say existing technology is hindering their organisation. Meanwhile, data from the same study found that only 15 per cent of public sector employees use digital tools to their full potential, and 43 per cent of organisations have difficulty integrating new technology with existing systems.

Smart response through innovation   

A great example of innovation is Insight’s collaboration with North West Ambulance Service (NWAS). Serving more than seven million people across Cumbria, Lancashire, Greater Manchester and beyond, this NHS Trust employs around 7,000 staff in over 300 different roles.

Insight began working with NWAS as the Trust was looking to create a digital, connected and effective facility to enable remote capabilities and support staff in their day-to-day roles.

A primary challenge for NWAS was its reliance on paper-based systems and manual processes. Physical whiteboards were being used to communicate critical details such as the ambulance status and location, and hospital arrivals.

To address these challenges, NWAS worked with Insight to develop the ‘Smart Station’ concept. NWAS replaced its written noticeboards with ‘digital wallboards’, invested in interactive tablets, allowing staff to browse bulletins, containing critical information, and search for other relevant information as needed.

In addition, the station garage was fitted with occupancy monitoring technology to indicate the status of ambulance parking spots on the digital wallboard. Updated in real-time, the system uses Internet of Things (IoT) parking sensors, and external green and red traffic lights positioned above the bays on the outside of the building.

The ‘Smart Station’ concept was made up of a variety of different features and technology, all helping to support the wellbeing and day-to-day activity of staff. Insight’s consultancy was instrumental in creating this concept and advising the Trust on what tools would work best among their current technical estate, and ultimately provide employees with the most effective user experience.  In this way, clinical decision making can be enhanced to reduce unnecessary hospital admissions, and time freed up for patient care.

“The goal of this digitalisation project was to deliver one of the major aims in our digital strategy, in using digital solutions to radically improve how we meet the needs of patients and staff, every time.”

John Martland, Head of IT Support Services, NWAS.

Another example comes from our work in policing. Derbyshire Constabulary oversees an area of 1,000 square miles and typically receives around 400 emergency calls in a 24-hour period. Alongside protecting the community, national policing initiatives meant the organisation was tasked with rapid digitisation, requiring the large-scale procurement of mission-critical IT.

Like many forces across the UK, to keep pace with a rapidly shifting criminal landscape, Derbyshire Constabulary has experienced an increase in the number of suppliers and vendors it deals with each year. This complexity added to the existing strain on the force’s IT resources, restricting the team’s ability to focus on strategic initiatives.

Insight worked with Derbyshire Constabulary to transform a complex and often costly process, into a streamlined, simplified procurement workflow.  Insight removed Derbyshire Constabulary’s need to tender individual contracts, and gave them a single, unified procurement process. The streamlined route to market enabled the force to purchase regulation-compliant technology in a direct, uncomplicated manner.

The success stories of both NWAS and Derbyshire Constabulary illustrate the transformative power of IT in the emergency services sector. By embracing innovative technologies, with streamlined procurement processes, organisations can not only improve their internal efficiency, and staff wellbeing, but also empower their staff to better serve their communities.

 
The industry will once again be gathering at the NEC, Birmingham for The Emergency Services Show, co located with The Emergency Tech Show on 18-19 September, check out the full exhibitor list here. You can find Insight in Hall 4, stand F112, part of the Microsoft Partner Pavilion.

[1] https://www.virginmediao2business.co.uk/pdf/insights/ps-report-unlocking-efficiencies.pdf