Through the trial – according to Excelerate – it has proven that: “Cost effective improvements in NHS connectivity are available now and can be implemented within days.” Developed through a 5.7 million Euro European Space Agency programme, Hybrid Connex facilitates satellite connectivity.
According to the company, the successful trial “enabled paramedic crews to achieve almost permanent connectivity in areas where they previously had very little, or no internet connectivity at all.
“During the pilot, cellular connection was utilised in 88 per cent of jobs attended in areas where previously the signal would not have been good enough to achieve a stable connection.”
Discussing potential benefits of 'permanent connectivity', the company highlighted the potential for “new patient care pathways,” an increase in the range of ‘point of contact’ diagnostic services, easy access to clinical information and more.
During the pilot, four East of England Ambulance Service vehicles operated with Hybrid Connex installed. During operations, onboard devices such as iPads were configured to auto connect vehicles’ Wi-Fi bubbles.
Discussing the technology, Excelerate COO Bethan Evans, said: “The Hybrid Connex technology bonds clever software, cutting-edge hardware and cellular and satellite services into one package. It combines seamless 4G, 5G and satellite connections, ensuring ambulance crews get a fast, resilient connectivity solution and are seldom offline.
“The hardware is unobtrusive and the technical fit-out can be done in a day, meaning the vehicle doesn’t need to be off-line for long."
EEAST electronic patient care records lead, Philip Elvidge, said: “When we lose connection, clinical apps stop being able to pull information from our CAD system. They also cease being able to pull information from our PDS trace to bring the patient's NHS number into record and prevent us being able to upload information to our key partners.
“However, with Hybrid Connex we have been able to access the Summary Care Records and National Record Locator consistently. [As we move forward] paramedics need to know they can always have the same information available no matter where they attend to their patients.”
