South East Coast Ambulance Service (SECAmb) is looking
forward to welcoming Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) staff from
Banstead as they join their colleagues at the Trust’s new EOC and
HQ in Crawley.

Staff currently based at Banstead will work their first shift at
the Trust’s Manor Royal site from the morning of Tuesday 5
September. They will also join their colleagues in Crawley and the
Trust’s East EOC in Coxheath, Kent, in operating on the Trust’s new
Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system which has been in operation
since July.

While a small number of departments including Clinical Education
and Fleet and Logistics are continuing to operate out of the
Trust’s Banstead site the EOC closure completes the Trust’s plans
to move from operating three EOCs to two. This brings it in line
with the majority of other ambulance trusts around the country who
have two EOCs.

The move to the new base was intentionally staggered to allow
for EOC staff to be trained on the Trust’s new CAD system. The CAD
is the system used to record all data related to 999 and urgent
requests of the Trust for ambulance assistance and is primarily
used by Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) staff to assess,
prioritise and, if necessary, dispatch ambulance crews to 999
calls.

The Trust has been using its old CAD system for more than 10
years. A decision was taken by the Trust Board last year to upgrade
to a new system in order to improve reliability, user experience
and improve performance and information. A competitive tendering
exercise led to Cleric Computer Services being awarded the new
contract to implement the new CAD early this year.

‘Cleric’ have been working with ambulance services for more than
30 years ensuring they have developed a deep understanding of user
and service needs.

Sue Skelton, Associate Director of Operations said: “We’re
looking forward to welcoming EOC staff from Banstead. We hope they
enjoy their new modern and bright working environment alongside the
benefits of joining their colleagues in operating on the new CAD,
which has been very well received by staff already using the
system.

“The move to the new control room, HQ and new CAD bring huge
benefits to staff and ultimately the patients who we provide a
service to.

“We understand that change isn’t always easy and we’d like to
thank everyone for their patience, understanding and
professionalism as this vital project to move to a new HQ, EOC and
new CAD has progressed.”