Ambulance staff in Bedfordshire to be given iPads as part of groundbreaking £25m project

They will be able to access patient's records including vital information about any medication they are taking or allergies they may have
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The East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EEAST) - which covers Bedfordshire - is investing more than £25million in state-of-the-art technology with every frontline member of staff being given an iPad.

Staff will be able access a brand new electronic patient care record (ePCR) system quickly and easily while on the road.

This includes details of previous ambulance call outs and the patient’s attendances at their GP surgery or acute hospital, as well as vital information about any medications they are taking, recent test results and allergies they may have.

Dr Tom Davis signing the contract for the technologyDr Tom Davis signing the contract for the technology
Dr Tom Davis signing the contract for the technology

EEAST is the first ambulance service globally to introduce this particular technology.

The project has been funded with £5million from NHSX, which has been matched by EEAST. Over the next 10 years, the trust has pledged to increase the investment by an additional £15million to further refine the technology so that it interacts fully with all of the different computer systems used by acute hospitals across the east of England.

Dr Tom Davis, acting chief executive at EEAST, said: “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.

“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.”

The trust will stagger the roll-out from late January.

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