Feasibility of Joint Working in Exchange and Sharing of Caller Information Between Ambulance, Fire and Police Services of Barfordshire

Abstract

This was a practical intervention in the UK, the objective of which was to undertake an examination of the current arrangements between Barfordshire Fire, Police and Ambulance Services for the sharing and exchange of caller information, taking into account technological potential and constraints, organisational issues, and geographical factors. The process followed was highly participative. The initial event was an open space session followed by later sessions exploring information technologyand human resource issues. For these two later events, interactive planning and critical systems heuristics were used. The most important outcome was that, whilst the extent to which the five organisations involved shared information and knowledge was very variable, there were no perceived barriers to this happening. Such sharing, despite considerable structural and cultural barriers, was seen to be feasible both organisationally and technically. The study further highlighted a need to more closely integrate operational and strategic planning in this area and to make more explicit use of known and tested methodologies to better enable participative dialogue.