Number of patients whose care was planned by a Paramedic
Dear East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust,
Last year, the College of Paramedics published a recommendation that all patients dialing 999 should receive Paramedic-led care. This recommendation built upon the Francis reports' recommendation that all patients discharged from NHS Care have their discharge overseen by a registered healthcare professional.
In this context, please may I request the following data from you?
1) How many emergency patients did you respond to between the 31st October 2016 and the 31st October 2017? Please note that I am interested in unique numbers of patients, and not necessarily the number of 999 calls received. Please could I ask you to include only patients categorized as an emergency (for example those who have called 999/112), and not urgent cases or routine transfers (for example GP Admissions).
2) How many of those emergency patients were seen face-to-face by a registered paramedic?
3) How many of those emergency patients were seen face-to-face by a registered healthcare professional other than a paramedic (for example a nurse or doctor)?
4) How many of those emergency patients were seen face to face by a clinician other than a registered healthcare professional, however a registered paramedic* was involved in the care planning? (for example a patient who was seen by a technician-led ambulance crew and discussed with a Paramedic over the telephone, or where a patient received assessment from a paramedic over the telephone and then seen face to face by an unregistered member of staff)
5) How many of those emergency patients were seen face to face by a clinician other than a registered healthcare professional, however a registered healthcare professional other than a paramedic* was involved in the care planning? (for example a patient who was seen by a technician-led ambulance crew and discussed with a Nurse or Doctor over the telephone, or where an unregistered ambulance crew responded to a patient following assessment by a nurse over the telephone)
6) How many of those emergency patients were seen face to face by a clinician other than a registered healthcare professional where a registered healthcare professional was not involved in the care planning? (For example where a technician led ambulance crew saw a patient independently)
7) How many of those emergency patients were assessed otherwise than face to face by a paramedic, and who did not receive an ambulance response? (For example where a Paramedic closed a call following a telephone consultation)
8) How many of those emergency patients were assessed otherwise than face to face by a registered healthcare professional other than a paramedic and who did not receive an ambulance response? (For example, any patients who were referred to another NHS Service following a telephone assessment by a nurse)
9) How many of those emergency patients were assessed otherwise than face to face by a clinician other than a registered healthcare professional and who did not receive an ambulance response? (For example, any patients who were dealt with over the telephone by an Ambulance Technician)
10) How many of the emergency patients seen face-to-face by a registered paramedic were transported to an acute hospital?
11) How many of the emergency patients seen face-to-face by a registered healthcare professional other than a paramedic were transported to an acute hospital?
12) How many of the emergency patients seen face to face by a clinician other than a registered healthcare professional, but where a registered paramedic* was involved in the care planning, were transported to an acute hospital?
13) How many of the emergency patients were seen face to face by a clinician other than a registered healthcare professional, but where a registered healthcare professional other than a paramedic* was involved in the care planning were transported to an acute hospital?
14) How many of the emergency patients were seen face to face by a clinician other than a registered healthcare professional where a registered healthcare professional was not involved in the care planning were transported to an acute hospital?
15) Please could you supply copies of any policies or documentation you have regarding the deployment of paramedics or other registered healthcare professionals to patients (for example any patient groups for whom a paramedic is required to be sent)?
16) Please could you confirm if your ambulance service allows clinicians other than registered healthcare professionals to discharge emergency patients, and provide copies of any relevant policies (for example any restrictions on certain age groups of patients who cannot be discharged by unregistered staff)?
17) Please could you confirm if your ambulance service allows clinicians other than registered healthcare professionals to make patient referrals, and provide copies of any relevant policies (for example any services to which unregistered staff are not permitted to refer patients)?
*Please note: any references to a Healthcare Professional in this context would refer to a registered healthcare professional employed by your trust, and not a situation where an unregistered member of staff sought advice from a healthcare professional employed outside the trust (for example where a member of unregistered staff discussed a patient with the patient's own GP).
Yours faithfully,
Theophilius Parry
Our Ref: FOI 17/242
Dear Mr Parry
Thank you for your email dated 3 November 2017 requesting information
about the number of patients whose care was planned by a Paramedic.
Your request is being dealt with under the terms of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 and will be answered within 20 working days.
If you have any queries about this request, do not hesitate to contact
me.
Kind regards
Lynn
[1]EMAS stacked logo right aligned
with crest - email signature
Emergency care | Urgent care | We
care
Lynn Daly
Information
Governance Telephone: 0115 919 3446
Compliance
Manager [mobile number]
Email: [2][email address]
East [3]www.emas.nhs.uk
Midlands
Ambulance @EMASNHSTRUST[4]Description:
Service NHS Description: Description:
Trust Description: Description:
Nottingham Description: Description:
Divisional Description: Description:
HQ Description:
Beechdale cid:image002.png@01CF367A.50F55880
Road
Nottingham
NG8 3LL
Dear Mr Parry
With regards to your FOI request below I have been instructed to contact
you. While I can confirm we do hold some of the information you have
requested it is not held in a format that would allow us to easily respond
to your FOI request.
Under section 12 of the Act pubic bodies are exempt from compliance if the
cost of compliance exceeds appropriate limit. The range of activities
taken in consideration of this time value are identifying, retrieving and
searching for the requested information.
It is our opinion that compliance with your request would exceed the
appropriate limit. Please can you narrow the scope of your request to
enable us to respond – I would suggest maybe restricting your request one
element.
I await your amended request and once in receipt I will be able to begin
to process your request. If I do not receive contact within three months
your request will be considered to have lapsed.
If you have any questions or concerns about this response please do not
hesitate to contact me.
Kind regards
Lynn
[1]EMAS stacked logo right aligned
with crest - email signature
Emergency care | Urgent care | We
care
Lynn Daly
Information
Governance Telephone: 0115 919 3446
Compliance
Manager [mobile number]
Email: [2][email address]
East [3]www.emas.nhs.uk
Midlands
Ambulance @EMASNHSTRUST[4]Description:
Service NHS Description: Description:
Trust Description: Description:
Nottingham Description: Description:
Divisional Description: Description:
HQ Description:
Beechdale cid:image002.png@01CF367A.50F55880
Road
Nottingham
NG8 3LL
Dear Lynn,
Thank you for your response.
I am sorry to hear that the information I was requesting is not as easy to extract from the CAD as I was anticipating. Other Ambulance Services have suggested that it might be more straightforward to extract the information requested for the number of incidents, rather than the number of patients; would this strategy bring my request under the 18 hour limit, please?
Yours sincerely,
Theophilius Parry
Dear Mr Parry
Please find response to your FOI request attached.
Kind regards
Lynn
[1]EMAS stacked logo right aligned
with crest - email signature
Emergency care | Urgent care | We
care
Lynn Daly
Information
Governance Telephone: 0115 919 3446
Compliance
Manager [mobile number]
Email: [2][email address]
East [3]www.emas.nhs.uk
Midlands
Ambulance @EMASNHSTRUST[4]Description:
Service NHS Description: Description:
Trust Description: Description:
Nottingham Description: Description:
Divisional Description: Description:
HQ Description:
Beechdale cid:image002.png@01CF367A.50F55880
Road
Nottingham
NG8 3LL
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