GPs and paramedics team up

Patients in the Black Country have been finding out that dialing 999 doesn't always mean an ambulance or A&E.

Since the 10th December last year, General Practitioners (GPs) from Primecare have been working shifts with West Midlands Ambulance Service (WMAS) paramedics to respond to specific 999 calls in a bid to reduce A&E admissions.

The trial, funded by Wolverhampton, Dudley, Sandwell and Walsall's Clinical Commissioning Groups, began with one car but was so successful that there are now four cars operating seven days a week between 10.00am and midnight. Since the trial began, 419 cases have been responded to by the GP cars with 68% of patients being treated at home.

Dr Hassan Saqr, a Primecare Locum GP, has been undertaking shifts with a paramedic since January said: "The trial is very useful and we're seeing a lot of patients. Some, unfortunately,
shouldn't have called 999 in the first place but the majority are able to be treated at home which is helping to free up emergency ambulances to deal with genuinely life threatening patients. "Paramedics and GPs complement each other's clinical skills very well which means that we can offer the patient a much broader range of medical help at their home. Each GP also has their own medical kit, which contains medication such as antibiotics and equipment such as a stethoscope.

"We recently went to a patient with severe back pain who was on the second floor of a property. The ambulance crew on scene had given the patient the maximum amount of pain relief they could administer but the patient needed more. I was able to give the patient some stronger pain relief, which helped to ease the patient's pain before further treatment was carried out. "We avoid admissions to hospital, particularly A&E, every single day which ultimately means that patients are getting the right treatment, in the right place and at the right time."

Stuart England is a paramedic and has been with WMAS for 10 years. For the past three weeks, Stuart has been working with GPs. Stuart said: "We've averaged eight to nine cases a day and what I've seen so far is that patients don't always need, or indeed want, to go to hospital.

"As paramedics, there's only so much we can do clinically so by having a GP with you means that some patients can be left safely at home thanks to some simple advice and help from a doctor. As well as being able to issue prescriptions and give medication such as antibiotics,
GPs can also test for and diagnose urine infections and glue wounds back together for example. It's a great trial with real benefits not only to patients, but to the ambulance service and A&Es too."