A new trial could help ambulances respond to emergencies more efficiently.

South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SCAS) is working with Ordnance Survey (OS) on the trial to maximise the efficiency of ambulance fleets.

The trial will see a predictive maintenance model developed for SCAS's fleet of more than 300 emergency response vehicles.

The model will allow the trust to efficiently schedule maintenance before a vehicle succumbs to larger, possibly long-term failures.

If the trial is successful, the model could be used by other emergency services and sectors.

The trial comes as SCAS looks at ways to maximise efficiency by minimising those times when ambulances must be taken off the road for unforeseen maintenance.

Vivienne Parsons, senior management information analyst at SCAS, said: "As well as the purchasing, conversion and equipment costs to get each ambulance on the road, it takes 12 members of staff to cover each vehicle's weekly operational rota, all with their own associated recruitment, training and university costs.

"Looking for other ways to innovate and improve service delivery and patient experience has led us to consider the wealth of data we capture from our vehicles.

"I am really excited to see what story we will be able to tell from the data and the impact this can have.

"The help we are being offered by working collaboratively with OS, Qlik and Differentia Consulting is amazing; they are a key part of our analytical journey, providing the insight and expertise that we do not have."

James Armstrong, geospatial consultant at OS, said: "Ambulance services are already dedicated users of OS geospatial data, but it's exciting to know that applying our data to this new model has great potential to improve the efficiency of the SCAS fleet, ultimately enhancing its ability to provide urgent care to those in need.

"It's incredibly rewarding for OS to be part of this project and potentially help to apply it across other emergency services fleets longer term."

SCAS operates across Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire and Oxfordshire, and has a fleet of more than 300 emergency response vehicles which are almost 99 per cent deployed at any time.