South Central Ambulance Service (SCAS) has switched to fully electronic and automated licence checking with DriverCheck.
SCAS has a pool of over 3,600 drivers, and 1,200 vehicles, including ambulances, patient transport vehicles, and company cars and vans.
Driving standards manager Jon Porter said: “Our drivers’ licences are checked every three months to ensure they are entitled to drive the class of vehicle they are required to. As you might imagine, before employing DriverCheck, this was a huge manual task, often carried out by a large number of team leaders and supervisors across the organisation.
“It was very hard to keep track of whether the required checks had actually been carried out on time or to the required standard, and the opportunity for errors was considerable. Now, our system is completely paperless and drivers complete the registration process via e-declaration rather than physical forms.
“DriverCheck manages the whole process which takes the burden away from us completely and not only cuts down on admin time and staff resources, but is far more cost effective. It has proved to be an absolutely fantastic service.”
SCAS staff are also monitored on a performance basis, with the driving standards department responsible for the post-accident management of anyone driving under SCAS insurance.
Porter receives regular reports from DriverCheck as part of the managed service, with email alerts highlighting any drivers approaching disqualification territory.
He added: “They also identify any drivers whose photocard licences are in danger of lapsing and reaching the end of their 10-year lives, when the licence and photo need renewing.
“Failure to do so can result in a £1,000 fine so this has proved to be a very welcome additional benefit of the service.”
DriverCheck head of operations Yvette Giannini said: “Given the nature of the work that SCAS carries out, at all hours of day and night, the associated risk factor is high.
“To ensure that the trust meets its duty of care responsibilities to not only its drivers, but the larger community, having drivers with validated licences for the class of vehicle they are driving is paramount from a risk management point of view.
“Automatic updating through the DriverCheck client portal dramatically reduces the chances of error, as well as cutting the amount of admin time required, and ensuring duty of care is being met at all times.”