London Ambulance Service NHS Trust has reported on progress including work on implementing a new digital and data operating model and its plans for a 12 month automation programme focusing on low-level processes.
Key leadership roles are now in place, the trust notes, ahead of a transition to the operating model designed to improve alignment between digital and operational teams and offer greater flexibility for changing organisational priorities.
User acceptance testing has been completed for its electronic controlled drug record programme and the trust notes early results from ambient voice technology use, showing improvements in productivity and documentation quality, along with reduced admin burden for clinicians.
“LAS submitted seventeen bids, totalling approximately £9.5m, through the NHS England Frontline Productivity Programme,” it reveals. “These proposals are closely aligned to the trust’s digital & data strategy and, if successful, would accelerate delivery across cyber security, infrastructure modernisation, automation, data and clinical technology programmes.”
Elsewhere, LAS highlights a planned capital investment programme of £63.3 million for 2026/27 across fleet, estates, digital, and medical equipment, with £1.2 million in capital costs being incurred in April 2026, and the remainder to be delivered across the full financial year.
The trust is also looking at opportunities for low-level processes within the people and culture directorate to be automated, such as with a digital worker, with 32 processes identified as being suitable. Automation will now be adopted as a 12-month proof of concept covering 10 priority processes, it goes on, with three in a testing phase and plans to go live in Q1.
The trust also shares insight into My Clinical Feedback, which has now transitioned into a national Federated Data Platform product, and into its leadership role on the Ambulance Leadership Forum Digital Hackathon tackling topics such as AI and intelligent triage.
Wider trend: Digital transformation in ambulance services
North West Ambulance Service 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.
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.
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. “The current EMAS estate was constructed for an ambulance service model that no longer reflects the scale, complexity, or operational needs of today’s service,” the trust shares. “Through a structured, prioritised programme, EMAS can secure an estate that is fit for purpose for the future, supporting next-generation emergency care for our people and patients.”
