There is a fine line between confidence and stupidity. In the 1970s the London Ambulance Service tried to implement a computer aided despatch system, and failed because they couldn’t get the system’s users to support the change. In the late 1980s they tried again, but the system couldn’t cope with the expected load.

Clearly, implementing a system of this sort involved significant managerial and technical challenges. What better way to handle it then, than to appoint a skeleton management team and saddle them with an impossible delivery timetable.

The London Ambulance Service Computer Aided Despatch System and Management Aided Disaster is described on this Episode by George Despotou. George also talks about the safety challenges of connected health.

Episode 20 transcript is here.

References

ZDNet News Item about 999 System outage

London Ambulance Service Press Release

Anthony Finkelstein LASCAD page with an academic paper, the full report and case study notes

University of Kent LASCAD case study notes [pdf]

Caldicott Report mentioned in George's Connected Health piece

The Register news article mentioned in George's piece

BBC News article on hacking heart pumps

George's Dependable Systems Blog