North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) NHS Trust has published a new strategy to 2031 with focuses on embracing innovation and taking advantage of opportunities from digital and data to better coordinate care, improve clinical decision support, and gain insight into demand.
Endeavouring to embed continuous improvement and innovation for a sustainable future, the service sets out areas of focus including a move toward digital, data, and tech-enabled care, relying on digital tools, strong data, and innovations to improve services for patients.
To date, achievements include the introduction of real-time safety dashboards and Power BI dashboards for performance monitoring, the rollout of SMART notice boards and a test of concept for a SMART station and SMART vehicles programme, and the launch of enhanced digital systems for EPR to enable measurement of safety and effectiveness.
Moving forward, high-level deliverables cover the use of data to identify contributing factors to avoidable harms, the implementation of a digital safeguarding referral system, the development of an Early Warning System drawing on patterns in datasets to point to risks to patient safety, and improved tracking and monitoring of medicines using digital solutions for stock management and a controlled drug register.
NWAS sets out ambitions to move to an “integrated, technology-enabled contact model”, allowing patients to reach the service through a variety of digital channels and accessible tools, and having contact centres acting as a single integrated system supported by connected digital platforms and AI technologies. With this in mind, in the next five years core digital systems will be connected to improve data flow and interoperability with system partners, an AI options appraisal will be completed, additional digital access channels will be introduced, and digital translation tools will be explored for their benefits in improving experience and safety.
Dispatch processes will be automated, AI and advanced decision support will help ensure high-risk patients are identified early, a remote clinical workforce will support with secondary triage and assessment, and alternative pathways with partners will be enabled by digital solutions for seamless care transfer, the trust states. Clinical assessment will be enhanced by remote consultations, integrated shared care records, and “streamlined” direct booking to improve care coordination.
NWAS also commits to a number of digital deliverables for trust colleagues, looking to put national digital tools to work to promote self-service and release administrative time. By 2031, it hopes to have improved staff digital literacy, digital tools in place to support safer care and better clinical decisions, and enhanced support for the workforce in terms of usable systems, high-quality data, digital processes, and digital confidence.
Wider trend: Innovation in ambulance services
South East Coast Ambulance Service launched a pilot of Tortus’s Ambient Voice solution in its emergency operations centres, looking to free-up clinician time to assist more patients. The tool listens in on conversations, transcribing spoken words into structured medical notes to be checked and approved. According to the trust, this is expected to reduce the amount of time taken by clinicians writing up notes following calls.
At its latest meeting, the board of London Ambulance Service shared updates on a range of digital and data programmes underway across the trust, looking at patient outcomes, core infrastructure modernisation, AI and automation, ePCR, and ambient voice technology. A key strategic highlight offered by the board is the transition of the My Clinical Feedback digital product, co-designed by the trust to allow paramedics to receive structured feedback on patient outcomes following conveyance, into a national Federated Data Platform product. The trust has led on successful implementation across London, and will continue to act as the national reference site during national rollout in 2026/27.
East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust has published its Strategic Estates Plan to 2035, outlining its future state vision and plans for a strategic hub model enabled by technology. Over the next ten years, EMAS will focus on moving to fewer, “better” hubs and community standby points to support a data-led and mobile response model. Infrastructure modernisation will help to enhance patient care, improve operational efficiency, and support workforce development, the trust notes. EMAS commits to future-proofing its estate with targeted investment, investing in stations to make sure they are fit for the future and support teams to work effectively, including options for home working and flexible work spaces.
