Kent Central Ambulance Service is meeting its NHS targets for patient delivery 97% of the time, following the installation of the Webfleet fleet management solution in June 2018.

With a fleet of 28 specialised vehicles, Kent Central Ambulance Service provides non-emergency transport for high dependency patients attending hospital for outpatient clinics, operations or life-saving treatments such as chemotherapy or renal dialysis.

The Webfleet system, according to TomTom Telematics, provides irrefutable evidence of journey times, with ‘on-time’ arrivals against NHS targets increasing from 68% in June 2018 to 97% in July 2019.

The service said it chose Webfleet following negative experiences with previous telematics suppliers.

Nigel Patton, managing director of Kent Central Ambulance Service, explained: “We had tried vehicle tracking before but it did not meet our expectations – it kept losing signal and there were no live traffic updates. With the new Webfleet system, there are no connectivity issues so we always know where our vehicles are. The traffic alerts also enable our drivers to avoid congestion and deliver our VIP cargo as quickly as possible.

“There is always a lot of road building and development around Kent, but the live map updates keep our drivers ahead of the game and on time. It’s like having a new system every day.”

The Service is also using Webfleet’s integral OptiDrive 360 functionality to measure and monitor the efficiency and safety of employees’ driving style on the road.  

“We get immediate notifications in the office if a driver is speeding, braking or cornering too harshly so we can address the issue straight away.  We’ve seen a definite reduction in speeding tickets for our fleet as a result,” said Patton. “It’s made all our drivers think greener and safer.”

Beverley Wise, director UK and Ireland for TomTom Telematics, added: “It’s great to see Webfleet being used to deliver clear benefits in such as important context, helping the NHS to provide the best support possible to patients and their carers.”

The NHS success comes as Bridgestone announced it was renaming TomTom Telematics as Webfleet Solutions.

The company acquired the telematics company earlier this year and says the telematics division will now operate under the new name as of October 1.

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