NEAS team wins regional award for improving how ambulance data supports patient care

The North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) informatics team has won a regional award for work that helps ensure ambulance service data is used safely, securely and responsibly to support patient care and health research. 

The team was named ‘Digital Data and Technology (DDaT) Team of the Year’ at the SDN NENC Digital Conference 2026, recognising their role in improving how vital health information can be shared and protected across the North East and North Cumbria.

The award celebrates NEAS becoming the first organisation in the region to deliver a fully automated data flow into the Secure Data Environment (SDE). This represents an important step forward in how health data can be shared consistently and securely to support ethical research and service improvement.

What this means for patients and staff

Behind the scenes, this work helps ensure that high‑quality ambulance service data can be used to better understand patient care, outcomes and system pressures — while maintaining the highest standards of confidentiality and information governance.

By automating the data flow process, the informatics team has reduced the need for manual handling of sensitive information, improved the consistency and reliability of data, and strengthened safeguards around how information is accessed and used. This supports trusted, ethical research that can help inform future improvements to services and patient care across the region.

A collaborative achievement

The nomination highlighted NEAS’s collaborative approach, with informatics and information governance teams working closely together to ensure data is both useful and secure.

Emily Turnbull, Head of Informatics at North East Ambulance Service, said: “This award recognises work that often happens behind the scenes but makes a real difference. By improving how we handle and protect ambulance service data, we are helping to support better understanding of patient care, while always putting confidentiality first.  

“It reflects the commitment of colleagues across Informatics and Information Governance to use data responsibly, in a way that supports staff, protects patients and helps improve services for the communities we serve.”

Recognising the team effort

The project benefited from contributions across informatics including:

• Jill Spencer, who supported early development discussions
• Connor Rice, who initiated the build phase
• Jake Bays, who drove the core delivery and completed the majority of development work
• Emmanuel Okutue, who led the creation of the fully automated process now in place
• The information governance team also played a vital role in ensuring data sharing remained secure, compliant and patient‑focused throughout.

Looking ahead

This award recognises more than technical achievement. It reflects NEAS’s commitment to using data responsibly to support staff, protect patients and contribute to research that can improve care across the North East and North Cumbria.