South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust has set out its target operating model for virtual care, looking to build on existing success and introduce a unified digital approach to support “more predictable” waits, improved risk identification, and smoother patient flow.
According to the trust, the new model will offer more consistency in clinical assessment for patients, expanded alternatives to ED conveyance, improved partnership working through more accurate referrals and shared records, and standardisation across tools, digital integration, and clinical escalation or advice points to support staff.
Five key proposals are put forward, covering centralising virtual care into two system-level clinical assessment services aligned to Surrey & Sussex and Kent & Medway ICSs; the replacement of fragmented virtual care with a unified end-to-end clinical process with standardised governance and digital tools; the shift of remote clinical assessment to the “earliest safe point” to reduce unnecessary dispatch and improve risk recognition; the introduction of a capability-based framework for the workforce with defined skills mix, competencies, and training pathways; and the integration of digital systems with automation, AI support, and real-time risk signalling.
The trust sets out a typical patient journey under the new model for triage, care navigation, remote clinical assessment, and post-dispatch clinical support, including the use of a triage tool to assess and prioritise all emergency calls. Differences will be delivering care closer to home through virtual assessment, shared real-time information to support commissioning and planning, and real-time clinical support and improved tooling from integrated digital systems and AI-supported documentation, it states.
For triage, the focus is on automated routing and prioritisation, real-time transcription and translation, AI-supported risk recognition with ambient listening for safety cues and AI address validation, and consistent access to summary care records. The trust also hopes to introduce improved information flow with standardised handover templates and minimum dataset requirements, integrated systems to enable interoperability, and consistent documentation supported by automated note taking.
In terms of care navigation and streaming, the trust’s focus is on intelligent case prioritisation with breach timers or flags, AI-supported risk identification and ambient listening, integrated partner portals, a single centralised patient list, and integrated messaging capabilities. Remote clinical assessment will involve auto population of calls from the stack, an AI summary of shared care records, a video consultation platform, evidence capture with integration of wearables, the electronic patient care record, and AI-supported clinical decision-making.
On intervention and care planning, digital will be a key enabler with the introduction of virtual clinical interaction tools, electronic referral and booking integration, remote prescribing capability, digital messaging, and accessible communication tools. And in post-dispatch clinical support, SECAMB outlines plans for integrated communication platforms, click to call telemetry, real-time dashboards, live risk signals and prompts for deterioration, pathway and referral integration portals, and automated note capture.
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.
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. 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.
