Ambulance review could revolutionise paramedics
A review of the ambulance service could mean that paramedics will soon be carrying out emergency treatment in patients’ homes.
The proposal suggests that paramedics on motorbikes would be able to answer emergency calls more quickly and diagnose and treat patients who do not need to go to hospital, or do not have time.
This could lessen the burden on the ambulance service, and enable them to answer more serious calls, while allowing some patients to receive treatment more efficiently.
It has been welcomed by Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt. She told the Sunday Telegraph: “If you are a mum and your child has fallen off his bike, you want him checked over but the last thing you want is to take him to A&E.
“The ambulance service can take on a new role by taking the hospital to you.”
It is thought that one million patients are unnecessarily taken to accident and emergency departments every year.
The national ambulance adviser, Peter Bradley, will outline the proposals, which will also include the retraining of paramedics to enable them to perform tests, prescribe drugs and treat chronic diseases such as asthma and diabetes, next week.
