LAS threatens to dump Northrop Grumman

London Ambulance Service NHS Trust could abandon its contract with American supplier Northrop Grumman if a second attempt to go-live with a new dispatch system scheduled for March fails.

 

Implementation of the CommandPoint computer aided dispatch system was due to go live in early June last year. However major problems resulted in staff reverting to its old dispatch system.

 

An investigation into the incident found the response to calls was delayed by more than three hours in some cases. The service received five complaints, and one patient has lodged a legal claim for the delay he experienced. One patient died in one of the calls affected, although a separate investigation found it could not be determined if the death was directly related to the response delay.

 

An investigation by the organisation into the 8 June go-live attempt found that the product had failed to deliver the system, technical and operational functionality expected.

 

It also said critical configuration issues were not identified during the testing phase and there were no operational procedures in place in the event of a critical system failure.

 

Following further testing, the Trust is planning to go live with the system on 28 March. However, director of information management and technology, Peter Suter, said if that attempt failed that “the contract with Northrop Grumman would need to be reconsidered".