Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust: Mass Communication Tool Project – Initial Briefing

10am – 11am 1 November 2022 Online

techUK is working with the Yorkshire Ambulance Service to deliver an industry day for potential suppliers to present their ideas and solutions for the Mass Communication Tool project.

The Yorkshire Ambulance Service (YAS) covers the whole of Yorkshire and serves over five million people. YAS has over 5,000 staff, 80% of whom are operational on the frontline. Yorkshire is the largest county in the UK and is split into four areas: North Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, and East Riding. There are three major cities with populations of over half a million: Sheffield, Leeds, and Bradford.

YAS has three key services:

Emergency Ambulance Service (999)

The Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) is located over two sites York and Wakefield and receives 999 calls. Last year, the service received over 998,500 emergency calls, an average of 2,700 a day. The service responds to incidents through either a vehicle arriving on scene or by telephone advice.

Patient Transport Service (PTS)

This service provides NHS-funded transport for eligible people who are unable to travel to their healthcare appointments by other means due to their medical condition. It undertakes almost a million non-emergency journeys every year, making it one of the largest providers in the UK.

NHS 111

This service provides medical help and advice to people who may have an urgent care need which is not an emergency. NHS 111 calls are answered by highly trained health advisors, supported by experienced clinicians who will assess callers needs and determine the most appropriate course of action.

YAS is part of the Northern Ambulance Alliance (NAA), a partnership between four northern Ambulance Services, which includes Northwest Ambulance Service (NWAS), East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) and Northeast Ambulance Service (NEAS).

The aim of the project is to procure a Mass Communication Tool which will provide communications capability to meet all of YAS NHS Trust’s mass communications requirements. It will deliver a unified communications architecture to meet the needs of 999, 111 and PTS. It will deliver economies of scale through a single platform, delivering the Trust’s entire mass communications needs and support the trust’s response to major incidents.

Options are still being considered, however, based on work to date the Mass Communication Tool is likely to involve:

An interoperable Mass Communication Tool for 999 that is interoperable / integrated with 111 and PTS.
Use of a compliant public Sector Framework Contract such as Crown Commercial Services GCloud Framework Contract, which is a Digital Marketplace of cloud – based ‘off-the shelf’ services.
Other NAA members joining later, with YAS as lead contractor agreeing favourable terms and benefits for ‘adding to’ the initial contract.
Other NAA members joining later independently but following the process established by YAS.

As part of the development of the full Business Case, YAS will be holding an industry day which will allow potential suppliers to present their ideas and solutions for the Mass Communication Tool project. If you’re interested in participating, please register for this briefing on the Mass Communication Tool project. The briefing will provide an overview of the project and what the team are looking for from the industry day, and an opportunity to ask questions.

After the briefing, participants will be invited to express an interest in presenting at the industry day planned for 6th December 2022. The industry day will be followed by a request for indicative costs to inform the Business Case. If the business case is approved, the expectation is that an invitation to tender will follow as soon as possible.

This is a great opportunity to find out more about a project that is at the forefront of digital transformation across the Yorkshire Ambulance Service.