Praise for ambulance clinician following award

Praise has been heaped on an ambulance service clinician for achieving a bronze award in providing an excellent service while talking to patients over the phone.

Laura Palmer is based at the Norwich Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) for the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EEAST) and works on the clinical support desk (CSD), taking calls that are classed as lower priority and assessing the patient over the telephone to see whether they require an ambulance.

The award was presented by Senior EOC Manager Brett Norton, who said: “This is an excellent achievement and I am very pleased for Laura. She has shown real dedication to patient care and I am sure there will be many more clinicians following in her footsteps.”

The ‘bronze award’ recognises 25 consecutive audits of 98 - 100% compliance on the calls she has taken; silver and gold accolades are awarded to those who achieve 50 and 100 calls respectively.

Audits are a way of supporting and maintaining high compliance for all clinicians by continued development and training provided specifically for telephone triage. Clinicians are audited in accordance with the International Academies of Emergency Dispatch and the audit process covers all areas of the call, including patient care, adherence to local policy care, as well as the clinical effectiveness and compliance of the audit.