Linda Ball

Setting the scene for the paramedic in primary care: a review of the literature

Recognition of the paramedic “profession” began in 2003, with the introduction of statutory registration and the promotion of graduate entry. This paper explores the published evidence which surrounds paramedic practice in an attempt to identify the skills, training, and professional capacity which paramedics of the future will require. A systematic analysis was carried out of key reviews and commentaries published between January 1995 and April 2004, and informal discussions with experts and researchers in the field were undertaken. There remains little high quality published evidence with which to validate many aspects of current paramedic practice. To keep pace with service developments, paramedic training must embrace the complexities of autonomous practice. Undoubtedly in the short term, paramedics must be taught to appropriately identify and manage a far wider range of commonly occurring conditions, minor illnesses, and trauma. However, in the longer term, and more importantly, paramedics must learn to work together to take ownership of the basic philosophies of their practice, which must have their foundation in valid and reliable research.

A qualitative exploration of a health trainer programme in two UK Primary Care Trusts

Aims: World Health Organization data illustrate a worldwide re-emergence of interest in the scope of lay health workers for extending services to ‘hard-to-reach’ community groups. In the UK, the health trainer model of service delivery represents one such innovative way of working, first described in the White Paper Choosing Health: Making Healthier Choices Easier and more recently in the Kings Fund report. The scheme was introduced into selected primary care settings in England from 2005 and rolled out nationally from 2007. The aim of this study was to examine the perceived value of the health trainer scheme. Methods: This paper describes qualitative data from two studies undertaken in 2007—2009, comprising in-depth consultations with key primary care stakeholders, health trainers and their clients in two primary care trusts in northern and central England. Data was collected via 12 semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders and service users and from 8 focus groups with a total of 33 trainee and qualified health trainers. Results: The UK health trainer approach was regarded as effective in contributing to the support of a broad spectrum of health and welfare issues across widely diverse communities in the two primary care trusts evaluated. Study data also indicated a wide-ranging impact of the health trainer service, extending not only to the lay health workers themselves, but also to their families, friends and colleagues. Conclusions: The health trainer service appears to be not only ‘fit for purpose’, but also to bring with it certain ‘added value’, which was not predicted by the two primary care service providers at the outset. A critical factor in this success appears to be the unique combination of time, the ‘person next door’ and a ‘one-to-one’ approach, which facilitated an innovative and highly productive connection between the health trainer and client. However, participants in this evaluation perceived that the current format and constituents of service performance data were significantly failing to credit the health trainer scheme with the full extent of this impact.