Safety recommendation
HSSIB recommends that HM Prison and Probation Service reviews and implements changes to current communication methods between staff at the scene of an incident and the ambulance service call centre. This is to ensure that situational information about the patient is passed directly from the scene to the call handlers, meaning faster and more accurate triage and categorisation of the emergency response.
Response:
HM Prison and Probation Service is very aware of the communication challenge presented by medical emergencies in prisons, where mobile phones are not available to facilitate direct contact between staff at the scene and ambulance control.
We have considered including the facilitation of direct communication to ambulance control amongst the requirements for our reprocurement of prison radios. However, our reprocurement is initially focused on support for the existing hardware and infrastructure, and is unlikely to deliver new radios to prisons until 2029, so this is not an option that could facilitate improvements in the short or medium term. Moreover the project team has not been able to identify a suitable system that would facilitate direct communication with ambulance control, and it has therefore been decided that this will not be within the scope of the project.
We will conduct a review to consider how to improve communication between the incident scene and ambulance control within the confines of the current policy and technology. The review will include workshops involving operational staff and partners, including the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives.
Actions planned to deliver safety recommendation:
- Consider prison radios as an option for direct communication to ambulance control. By: Completed.
- Arrange workshops involving operational staff and partners. By: 31 March 2025.
- Complete review of communications between incident scene and ambulance control. By: 30 June 2025.
Response received on 3 December 2024.