An ambulance service is still experiencing IT issues after it declared a critical incident following a failure of the system used to deploy ambulances.

Last night, South East Coast Ambulance Service (Secamb) reported technical issues, which resulted in the loss of its computer-aided dispatch system, which is used to triage calls and deploy ambulance resources to incidents.

The service moved to backup telephone systems as it tried to work with IT providers to rectify the fault.

Secamb executive director of operations Emma Williams said the service is still experiencing issues, but that the service has now been able to move back to the computer-aided system.

“We continue to experience significant IT system issues, which are affecting our computer aided dispatch (CAD) and which are preventing our systems from working fully,” she said.

“We are pleased that this morning, (Friday, November 11) we have been able to move back onto our CAD, operating it as a standalone system at our East Emergency Operations Centre in Coxheath, Kent. We are continuing to work closely with our IT providers on fully resolving the issues.

“I would like to thank all our staff and volunteers who have been working so incredibly hard to manage the impact of this, while also trying to resolve the issues as quickly as possible.

“In light of the fact we have been able to return to the use of our CAD in a limited form, going forward, the incident will be managed as an internal business continuity incident.

“We would like to thank the public for their ongoing support and urge them to continue to help us manage the demand placed upon us by only calling 999 in the event of a serious emergency.”