Paramedic at the GP surgery

[snoozeyoulosecruise]

Hi, just a query really.

Took DD to the doctors today for an ear infection and was seen by a nurse.

She was accompanied by a paramedic (they did check we were ok with this) who seemed to be training and had a look in DDs ears too.

I've never come across this before and wondered if the plan is to use paramedics for minor medical problems too or is it part of general training for them?

No problem, I'm just curious!

I had a paramedic see me at a doctors for an appointment. She was great and reassuring,would happily do it again

Yes I saw a paramedic yesterday and she was very knowledgeable,professional with a lovely manner.

I think its part of the governments bigger plan to try and share the GP load....just like training pharmacists to be able to prescribe for certain health conditions. Which in theory is fine, but these are existing and highly qualified pharmacists and paramedics, which means there will be gaps in those professions when the experienced people move 🙈

I’m a qualified paramedic practitioner (and I can prescribe, take blood, cannulate etc) and have worked in a GP surgery as well as minor injuries before. It’s quite routine and similar work.

I thought this was pretty common as its been used in SE for couple years now. It's bit like triage/minor injuries.

It's part of the additional roles in primary care
Paramedics
Mental health nurses
Community pharmacists
Care Coordinator
Social Prescriber
Health & well-being coach
Physios

Surgeries can pick who they want to employ according to their patients' needs

We've just taken one on with the retirement of two ANP's. He was the only applicant.

Yes paramedics work in GP surgeries now.

This is leading to a shortage of paramedic too.

I was given an appointment with a paramedic during the early days of Covid. He repeatedly mixed up which side of me the problem was on, and even put it in the notes wrongly. Instead of waiting for the GP that was supposed to be overseeing he went off to find him while he was on a call so then went and dragged someone else in who was very flustered and stressed as she was in the middle of something else. First GP came in as he was meant to and saw the other one so went away again. Total confusion all round.

I never did get a proper consultation and I hope the paramedic got his act together because it was quite worrying that he managed to mess up every single thing he did, never mind the delay of about a year before I actually got any tests.

Our GP surgery uses paramedics who were very helpful to me when I had tonsillitis. I got chatting & she said GP surgery hours worked better with family life so I’m glad there is an option for paramedics with family commitments to stay in practice.

Ah interesting, glad I asked. He was very good with my DD.

its interesting to use a group of people who are trained in managing emergency work and transfer medicine in primary care. I am a different kind of doctor in a fairly
related field and wouldn’t dream
of believing I could do GP work without significant further training.
The tonsillitis is “simple” except it’s not. Is it actually EBV? Is it tonsillar cancer? Is there a quinsy? This isn’t what paramedics have been trained to do. There aren’t enough to do paramedic work and they are desperately
needed there however nice they are.
The government need to get people doing the jobs they were trained in not look for “cheap fixes”

Isn't this what Physicians Associates are for? Wouldn't want a paramedic to treat me, as another poster has said, they are for emergency care, either administering first aid or making sure patients remain stable while transporting people to hospital. I have great resect for them but not as a stand in for a GP.

My DMs surgery use Paramedic Practitioners they are amazing.

I'm a community AHP and it's common here to have paramedics in GP surgeries. In my experience, they do a lot of home visits in place of GPs. Its a real help as we've struggled to get medical reviews for acutely deteriorating patients.

Our GP surgery has a resident paramedic. He does a lot of the triage phone calls and does appointments too.

Paramedics in GP surgeries will be ACPs (advanced Clinical Practitioners) they go to uni and do a 2.5 years further training MSC in advanced clinical practice. 1 year of that course shadowing a doctor in their area of practice usually, for experience. This is a developing role initially undertaken by nurses but has now expanded to pharmacists, paramedics, physios etc. The course also covers the prescribing qualification.
It helps bring a very multi skilled workforce to primary care especially with the building of virtual wards and frailty work working towards preventing unnecessary admissions and making sure people get the right care in the right place.
Theres so many different evolving roles now that are really beneficial in primary care! However no one tells the public at home so it all seems very odd and unsettling when suddenly your been seen by a paramedic at the doctors!