A CAMPAIGN has been launched to standardise sat nav systems used by blue light services after a man died following a 30-minute wait for an ambulance to navigate through a new housing estate.

Darlington MP Jenny Chapman is fighting alongside one of her constituents left widowed after paramedics could not access up-to-date GPS data to direct them to the couple’s home in the Feethams development.

A post code was provided to a 999 operator by bereaved partner, but the new road did not appear on the North East Ambulance Service database.

Thirty minutes passed before the crew could locate the address, however the man’s life could not be saved and he died in the emergency last year.

Ms Chapman is now working alongside the bereaved family and this week called a debate in Parliament over the issue.

The MP said: “We have new developments springing up across town, and many people move in to their new property while the site is half-developed and with unadopted roads.

“These roads wouldn’t necessarily feature on any GPS system the blue light services have access to and thus could lead to tragedies like we have seen here.

“However, I do want to be clear, neither the family nor I are blaming the ambulance service or the operator for these issues – it is a defect within the whole system.

“Before this was raised with me, not once did it occur how life-threatening this defect can be to those who live on new developments, but I want to push Government to create a solution to ensure that every house with an inhabitant is known to the blue light services.”

Ambulance trusts rely on database updates supplied by the Ordnance Survey, however councils or housing developers must submit requests for new maps.

Paul Liversidge, chief operating officer at North East Ambulance Service, said: “At the time of this case, we were only able to update our electronic system when we did other system upgrades, meaning we were not able to regularly keep up with address data changes.

“As a result of learning from this incident and changes to our systems, we now update address data within a fortnight of releases.

“Our ambulance crews often have local knowledge of the area they serve, which is invaluable, and where they are unfamiliar with a new build housing estate, they can also be guided to a location by dispatch officers tracking the vehicle.”