FoI response points to network updates for ambulance outage on England's south coast
(2021/12/14)
- Reference: 1639474206
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2021/12/14/foi_reveals_network_updates_in/
- Source link:
Exclusive An IT failure that led to a critical incident delaying ambulance dispatches from an NHS service in the south of England was down to network failures following routine maintenance, according to a Freedom of Information response.
During the outage in November, South East Coast Ambulance Service (Secamb) urged people to "consider alternatives to 999" while patients were prioritised based on the severity of their symptoms.
According to [1]BBC reports at the time, the technical event held up ambulance dispatches.
[2]
[3]Board meeting minutes from 25 November state : "At 8.30am on 17th November 2021, a Critical Incident was declared by the on-duty Strategic Commander following a significant IT issue which affected a number of our systems, including the Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) and our telephony systems.
[4]
[5]
"As a result, local and national contingency plans were put into place as work was underway to identify the issues and undertake the work necessary to bring all systems back online. This happened during the evening and the Critical Incident was stood down at 11.30pm."
The board heard how technical, resilience, and patient safety reviews into the episode had begun and that management would "ensure that any learning arising from these is acted upon moving forwards."
[6]
The CAD system went live in 2017 and was provided by Cleric Computer Services, [7]according to a press release at the time .
[8]Thought NHS Digital's wind-down meant it would stop writing cheques? Silly you. It's gone on an IT buying spree
[9]UK Test and Trace finding consultant habit hard to break: More contracts go to Deloitte and Accenture
[10]England's Data Guardian warns of plans to grant police access to patient data
[11]Foreign Office IT chaos: Shocking testimony reveals poor tech support hindered Afghan evac attempts
[12]Spending watchdog blames British Home Office for delays to £1bn crime-fighting IT system
But a Freedom of Information request sent by The Register indicates the network is more likely to be at fault.
The issues became apparent from 8:30am and related to planned maintenance work, the FoI reply confirmed. It also said the issue related to network infrastructure as more than one system was affected. Complete Networks provides support for the LAN and WAN at the ambulance service, although no blame is being attached to the supplier.
We've contacted Complete Networks for a response.
At the time of the outage, Unison southeast regional organiser Joshua Cooper told the BBC: "Ambulance and control room staff are working tirelessly to respond to every emergency call they receive and doing all they can to keep patients safe. Lengthy delays are causing much distress to NHS staff. Staff are already at breaking point after months of 'winter-style' pressures."
[13]
The Secamb outage came a week after a [14]similar failure at East of England Ambulance Service Trust . ®
Get our [15]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-59319237
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Ybh5XoS8ZEWmO24hb-Up3AAAAA0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://www.secamb.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Trust-Board-Papers-25-November-2021b.pdf
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Ybh5XoS8ZEWmO24hb-Up3AAAAA0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Ybh5XoS8ZEWmO24hb-Up3AAAAA0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Ybh5XoS8ZEWmO24hb-Up3AAAAA0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.secamb.nhs.uk/trust-begins-rollout-of-new-computer-aided-dispatch-system/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2021/12/07/nhs_digital_it_buy/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2021/11/23/accenture_deloitte_test_and_trace/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2021/10/11/data_guardian_police_bill/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2021/12/07/foreign_office_it_chaos_testimony/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2021/09/13/nao_home_office_nleds_report/
[13] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Ybh5XoS8ZEWmO24hb-Up3AAAAA0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[14] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-59239635
[15] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
During the outage in November, South East Coast Ambulance Service (Secamb) urged people to "consider alternatives to 999" while patients were prioritised based on the severity of their symptoms.
According to [1]BBC reports at the time, the technical event held up ambulance dispatches.
[2]
[3]Board meeting minutes from 25 November state : "At 8.30am on 17th November 2021, a Critical Incident was declared by the on-duty Strategic Commander following a significant IT issue which affected a number of our systems, including the Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) and our telephony systems.
[4]
[5]
"As a result, local and national contingency plans were put into place as work was underway to identify the issues and undertake the work necessary to bring all systems back online. This happened during the evening and the Critical Incident was stood down at 11.30pm."
The board heard how technical, resilience, and patient safety reviews into the episode had begun and that management would "ensure that any learning arising from these is acted upon moving forwards."
[6]
The CAD system went live in 2017 and was provided by Cleric Computer Services, [7]according to a press release at the time .
[8]Thought NHS Digital's wind-down meant it would stop writing cheques? Silly you. It's gone on an IT buying spree
[9]UK Test and Trace finding consultant habit hard to break: More contracts go to Deloitte and Accenture
[10]England's Data Guardian warns of plans to grant police access to patient data
[11]Foreign Office IT chaos: Shocking testimony reveals poor tech support hindered Afghan evac attempts
[12]Spending watchdog blames British Home Office for delays to £1bn crime-fighting IT system
But a Freedom of Information request sent by The Register indicates the network is more likely to be at fault.
The issues became apparent from 8:30am and related to planned maintenance work, the FoI reply confirmed. It also said the issue related to network infrastructure as more than one system was affected. Complete Networks provides support for the LAN and WAN at the ambulance service, although no blame is being attached to the supplier.
We've contacted Complete Networks for a response.
At the time of the outage, Unison southeast regional organiser Joshua Cooper told the BBC: "Ambulance and control room staff are working tirelessly to respond to every emergency call they receive and doing all they can to keep patients safe. Lengthy delays are causing much distress to NHS staff. Staff are already at breaking point after months of 'winter-style' pressures."
[13]
The Secamb outage came a week after a [14]similar failure at East of England Ambulance Service Trust . ®
Get our [15]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-59319237
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Ybh5XoS8ZEWmO24hb-Up3AAAAA0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://www.secamb.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Trust-Board-Papers-25-November-2021b.pdf
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Ybh5XoS8ZEWmO24hb-Up3AAAAA0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Ybh5XoS8ZEWmO24hb-Up3AAAAA0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Ybh5XoS8ZEWmO24hb-Up3AAAAA0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.secamb.nhs.uk/trust-begins-rollout-of-new-computer-aided-dispatch-system/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2021/12/07/nhs_digital_it_buy/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2021/11/23/accenture_deloitte_test_and_trace/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2021/10/11/data_guardian_police_bill/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2021/12/07/foreign_office_it_chaos_testimony/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2021/09/13/nao_home_office_nleds_report/
[13] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Ybh5XoS8ZEWmO24hb-Up3AAAAA0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[14] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-59239635
[15] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: From the Article:
msknight
If you get into the position of trying to say one person's anguish is greater than another, then that's no-win territory before you even begin.
If you work for the NHS, it isn't usually for the pay, and doing shift after shift, being unable to give people the best help that you can, whether that be it in a hospital ward, an ambulance or anywhere else in the service, is a constant drain. The whole situation across the health service right now, is not good.
Re: From the Article:
Anonymous Coward
Lengthy delays are causing much distress to NHS staff.
And the source of their distress? BECAUSE the patients and emergencies weren't being served timely and appropriately. And they knew it at the time and were suffering themselves from worry and despair due to a situation outside their control.
Did you not understand the statement was on behalf of the many staff who aren't network wonks?
Your second guessing after the event is quite ill considered, yes, and measures your ability to empathise, not theirs.
From the Article:
Unison southeast regional organiser Joshua Cooper told the BBC: "Ambulance and control room staff are working tirelessly to respond to every emergency call they receive and doing all they can to keep patients safe. Lengthy delays are causing much distress to NHS staff . Staff are already at breaking point after months of 'winter-style' pressures." (My bold)
While I don't doubt that Unison's statement is true, I cannot help but feel that it was rather ill considered; I suspect that the stress felt by people awaiting ambulance attendance and their families was somewhat greater.