By Robert Weatherall
The Evening Chronicle
NEWBURN RIVERSIDE, England — Ambulance drivers are being told to go back to their reliable A toZ maps because sat navs are delaying response times to call-outs.
A memo sent to staff by North East Ambulance Service boss Paul Liversidge urges them to use maps rather than rely on hi-tech navigationsystems.
Now the advice has been seized on by campaigners, who say it proves they are right to fear plans to centralise the emergency call system for the ambulance service.
Mr Liversidge’s memo says: “I have previously communicated generally on a number of occasions about the problems we have experienced with staff relaying solely on their sat nav systems and not checking locations with the A to Z maps.
“It seems we continue to experience similar issues, which can delay the response to patients. Can I again emphasise the sat nav system should only be used as a guide?” An NEAS spokesman said local knowledge had always been valued by the service in enabling drivers to get to emergency scenes.
But worries about local knowledge and speed are behind the campaign against NEAS plans to close a Middlesbrough call centre and route calls through bases across Tyneside.
One of the main opponents is Barry Coppinger, a Middlesbrough councillor and chairman of the Cleveland Joint Emergency Planning Committee.
He said: “When the ambulance trust decided to go ahead with this, they said that everything would work smoothly because sat nav technology meant local knowledge was no longer needed.
“What this leaked memo shows is that is simply not the case. You can have all the technology in the world, but it doesn’t replace knowledge.
“This memo exposes the flaws in the North East Ambulance Service NHS Trust’s plans.” The NEAS spokesman said call centre staff did not need local knowledge to dispatch crews to jobs and pointed out that Tyneside operatives already directed ambulances to an area covering rural Northumberland and Durham, as well as Tyne and Wear.
He said: “It has always been the view of NEAS that the knowledge acquired by our staff operating out of local ambulance stations and health centres is useful, and therefore the reference to local knowledge is appropriate.
Unison’s Trevor Johnstone said it was rare for ambulances to be sent astray by sat navs.
“They have always used directions and A to Z maps. Sat navs were only ever there as a guide.”
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