Ambulance UK April 2021

Volume 36 No. 2 

April 2021 

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CONTENTS 

CONTENTS 

Ambulance UK 

36 EDITOR’S COMMENT 

40 FEATURES 

40 The transition from clinician to manager: 

the paramedic experience 

44 NEWSLINE 

60 IN PERSON 

62 COMPANY NEWS 

This issue edited by: 

Dr Matt House 

c/o Media Publishing Company 

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35

EDITOR’S COMMENT 

EDITOR’S COMMENT 

In my job, I get my fair share of attending cardiac arrests and major trauma 

incidents. I also get my fair share of meetings and emails. Sometimes I might say 

more than my fair share. As you move up the ladder in any job, I think you find the 

same thing; more meetings and more emails. 

These are, of course, important. A large organisation like an ambulance service needs constantly to review 

its policies and procedures. New guidelines come in, or new circumstances that we need to address. All of 

these things need input, and that results in meetings and emails. There are certain days of the month when 

you can almost hear the collective sigh, as we sit down for a long day of briefings, papers and updates. It is 

important, but relentless. 


“A large 

organisation 

like an 

ambulance 

service needs 

constantly 

to review its 

policies and 

procedures. 

New 

guidelines 

come in, 

or new 

circumstances 

that we need 

to address.” 

There have been times when I could quite happily have given it all up. Instead, I went back to basics. I 

started once or twice a week to find an ambulance that was single-crewed, and put my name down for a 

shift. Not a staff appraisal shift, or a double-manager shift, but a shift with whoever happened to be on that 

day. 

My wife now says she can tell when I’ve been on an ambulance, because I come home in a better mood. 

Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoy the ‘big’ incidents; the cardiac arrests and the major trauma. However, 

there is something about just logging on, and seeing what the day has to offer. The small things that can 

easily be forgotten about when you leave your rota line and join ‘management’. 

I tend to find whoever I’m working with is a little cautious at first. But it doesn’t take long before I’m just 

another paramedic they are working with for the day. 

This has not just been a benefit to my own well-being. It has also helped me with the other side of my work. 

Whether we are talking about compliance with daily tyre checks, extended time on scene, or handover 

delays; there is nothing quite like first-hand experience to inform your conversation. So, as we slowly return 

to normality, I will be making every effort to keep to my ambulance shifts, and not let things drift back to 

‘normal’. 

Dr Matt House, Co-Editor Ambulance UK 

36 

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39

FEATURE 

THE TRANSITION FROM 

CLINICIAN TO MANAGER: 

THE PARAMEDIC EXPERIENCE 

Karen Stewart MHCM, BSc is Senior Operations Manager, Country Ambulance Operations 1,2 ; Vicki Cope RN, PhD is Associate 

Professor 1 ; Melanie Murray RN, PhD is Lecturer 1 ; 

Affiliations: 1 Discipline of Nursing, College of Science, Health, Engineering and Education, Murdoch University, Western Australia, 2 St John, Western Australia 

https://doi.org/10.33151/ajp.18.861 

Corresponding Author: Melanie Murray, Melanie.Murray@murdoch.edu.au 

Abstract 

Introduction 

Promotion from paramedic to manager is common in ambulance services, 

yet there is limited research concerning paramedics’ experience of this 

role transition. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the 

experiences of paramedics who have transitioned from clinician to manager. 

Methods 

A qualitative approach was used for this study. Through purposive 

sampling, semi-structured interviews were conducted with paramedics 

who had made the transition to manager. The participants were asked to 

describe how they felt and what their experiences were concerning this 

transition. Thematic analysis was undertaken identifying themes within 

participant responses. 

the team ‘in green’; however, they also reported that previously being a 

paramedic in some instances gave credibility in their new manager roles. 

Challenges reported concerned no formal training before transitioning into 

the role, and the lack of essential managerial experience. 

Conclusion 

This research provided insight into how paramedics feel and perceive 

the transition from clinician to management roles. A review of the 

organisational approach to role transition is of benefit to paramedics. 

Such a review may help identify what changes could be made in 

support of paramedics transitioning to management roles. Further 

research is required across other ambulance services to determine the 

efficacy of these results in the broader ambulance service environment. 

Results 

Six key themes emerged during the data analysis. Participants described 

feelings of isolation on moving from the frontline, a lack of feeling part of 

Keywords: 

clinician; management; paramedic; ambulance; professional isolation; 

qualitative research; supervisor; leader 

Introduction 

The ambulance service setting for this study provides the ‘000’ 

emergency response service and has 1578 paid staff and 9005 

volunteers covering the largest land mass in the world by a single 

ambulance service (1). There are currently 163 managers across various 

departments, including operational and non-operational, within the 

organisation with varying spans of influence. Many of these managers 

were promoted directly from paramedics into management roles. 

Paramedic clinical training is process and policy driven. The softer 

clinical skills and empathy, which provide a more holistically wellrounded 

clinician, are often developed over time from both personal 

and professional growth (4). At times, personality traits and certain 

characteristics of a more aggressive decision-making style can make for 

a good decision maker under pressure in the paramedic field (5). This 

approach, however, may leave a gap in other important skills such as 

sociability, flexibility, cooperativeness, forgiveness and tolerance – the 

characteristics important for a manager in contemporary health care (6). 


Research suggests that in many professions and organisations, 

effective frontline staff, or clinicians, may be progressed and promoted 

to managerial roles with little support or training when there are clear 

differences in the role and responsibilities (2). Further, anecdotally, 

paramedics may be promoted to managerial positions because they are 

good clinicians and employees, not because they have leadership and 

management qualifications. Scant research can be sourced to identify 

if appropriate support and training is provided to paramedics before 

taking on a management role. For the purpose of this paper, a manager 

is described as a person ‘who supports and is responsible for the work 

performance of one or more other persons’ (3). 

This study aimed to explore participants’ views on training, 

qualifications, experiences and perceptions of clinicians who have 

transitioned to management roles. 

The student researcher is a registered paramedic in both Australia 

and the United Kingdom, with a background of joining the Scottish 

Ambulance Service in 1993. The approach to paramedic training in 

Scotland in 1997, and to management styles, was adapted from the 

military (7) and after 20 years ‘on the road’ in various frontline roles, 

a promotion to management was attained with no formal training or 

required qualifications. Therefore, the researcher’s interest was piqued 

40 

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FEATURE 

when reflecting from being ‘on the road’ with friends and colleagues, to 

being in a managerial position, contemplating: What happens to those 

collegial friendships and relationships once a paramedic is promoted 

to a management position? Does working within management affect 

the way other paramedics relate to their former peer? This study was 

designed to explore these contemplations, to delve into the experiences 

of paramedics who have transitioned from clinicians to managers, and 

gain insight into the perceived challenges which may have been faced 

during this change of role. 

Ethics approval 

Ethical approval was sought and granted from the Murdoch University 

Human Research Ethics Committee (#2020-023). In-principle support 

was also gained from the organisation prior to commencement of 

the study. The principal ethical considerations in this research was to 

protect and provide anonymity of the participants who had taken part in 

the study. Confidentiality was maintained, no coercion was entered, and 

there were no repercussions towards the potential participants who did 

not respond. The researcher approached all potential participants via 

email to ask if they wanted to take part in the study. The email included 

an information and consent letter. The participants were offered the 

option to be audio-recorded or not and informed consent was sought. 

Where during data analysis there were idioms of speech present, 

these were removed to protect identity, and participants were allocated 

numbers to further assist with de-identification. None of the participants 

required the assistance of the organisation’s wellbeing and support 

team during the interview process, although this was available to them. 

Information was gleaned during the interviews to provide subject matter 

expert replies to the interview questions and for no other purpose (8). 

Methods 

Research design 

A qualitative descriptive approach was used to explore the experiences 

of paramedics transitioning from clinician to manager (9). This 

methodology was applicable to support the research question and 

gain a deeper understanding of the topic (10). This approach allowed 

participants the opportunity to describe, in their own words, their own 

experience of transition (11). 

Participants, data collection and analysis 

Purposeful sampling of paramedics who have transitioned to manager 

were sought for semi-structured interviews. This allowed flexibility and 

deeper exploration of the subject matter from those who have had direct 

experience of this transition (12). Sampling occurred across different 

areas to capture those in differing managerial roles such as operations, 

executive, frontline and non-operation. 

There were N=14 managers approached to take part in the study from 

one paramedic setting. Ten (n=10) consented to participate and were 

interviewed. One interview did not record due to a technical issue and 

was not re-conducted due to additional COVID-19 pandemic workload 

for both the participant and the interviewer (13). Participants were 

aged between 30 and 55 years and had varying lengths of service, 

as both paramedics and managers, ranging from 10 to 25 years. The 

participants were purposefully selected as they were paramedics who 

had transitioned from clinician to manager and had requisite knowledge 

of the role-transition experience. 

Six semi-structured interview questions (devised from the literature) 

included questions concerning training, formal qualifications, 

experiences of transitioning to a manager role, and how this transition 

made the participants feel. The interviews lasted less than an hour and 

were undertaken at a mutually agreed time and place. Participants were 

able to withdraw from the study up until the end of data collection and 

before analysis being undertaken. 

Thematic analysis was undertaken to identify the key themes within 

participant responses by three qualitative reviewers. Thematic analysis 

was undertaken following the steps of familiarisation of the data, 

generating codes, searching for themes, reviewing and naming the 

themes, and writing up of the final report. Final themes were identified 

through discussion and regular consultation between the three 

researchers. The researchers utilised Microsoft Word DocTools software 

to assist with the data analysis and help to create themes (14). 

Findings 

Nine (n=9) interviews were conducted in one paramedic setting. 

Demographic data can be seen in Table 1. There were no participants 

from any recognised minority groups. Six major themes emerged 

from the data: ‘in at the deep end’, ‘lost your identity’, ‘sold your soul’, 

‘desirable rather than essential’, ‘street cred’ and ‘stand back and take a 

breath’. Each be discussed in turn. 

Table 1. Demographics 

Gender 

Female 

3 

Male 

6 

Age (years) 30-55 

Length of service range 10-25 

Position 

Operations manager 3 

Frontline manager 2 

Non-operations manager 2 

Senior executive 2 

Theme 1: In at the deep end 

Participants’ narratives concerning any management training before 

transitioning from frontline to management demonstrated the complexity 

of role transition and their feelings of being ‘thrown in at the deep end’. 

All participants were united in their descriptions of the lack of formal 

training before their role transition from clinician to manager. 

“There hasn’t really been any training prior to stepping 

back from the paramedic side of things.” Participant 6 

“So, my transition was a little bit in the deep end. The 

transition to the actual job was difficult.” Participant 9 

Theme 2: Lost your identity 

A question relating to the personal experience of transition from clinician 

to manager raised the most concern from participants and their feelings 

of isolation once they moved from the frontline role. The following 


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41

FEATURE 

verbatim quotes demonstrate their disconnectedness. 

“Especially in the beginning, you’ve lost your identity.’’ 

Participant 4 

“There’s a green family out there but I don’t feel as 

connected as I used to everybody.” Participant 7 

“Challenging at times. I think the first thing you notice is, 

you figure out who your friends were and who were the 

people that were just being friendly to you.” Participant 8 

Theme 3: Sold your soul 

When questioned about the perspectives of continuing camaraderie 

following role transition, participants appeared melancholy in their 

thoughts and responses to the feeling of lack of trust from their former 

frontline paramedic colleagues. It was as if they were no longer the 

same people as they had once been since they made the transition to a 

management role. They felt they no longer belonged. 

“They felt that you had sold your soul or that you were no 

longer part of the team.” Participant 1 

“The transition. Well put it this way. On the Friday I would 

be out with the paramedics that I had known for years 

in the pub having a beer. This is just generalising here. 

On the Monday I would start my new role. The following 

Friday I would be absent from that because I wasn’t 

invited.” Participant 3 

“Certainly one may be of almost a distrust or something 

along those lines where it kind of feels like they don’t see 

you as one of them anymore.” Participant 5 

Theme 4: Desirable rather than essential 

A question regarding prerequisites of their current management role elicited 

a majority agreement that there had been no essential criteria for them to 

have previous management experience before entering into the role. 

“That I didn’t have that depth of management experience.” 

Participant 1 

“Desirable rather than essential.” Participant 5 

“So, they were definitely ‘not required’.” Participant 6 

a clinician you are patientcentric and only must deal with limited tasks 

(patients) at a time rather than the many tasks of management. This is 

further demonstrated by the following responses: 

“Time management is a real challenge. I think for 

paramedics, I think we’ve become very good at doing one 

thing at a time and we get very task focussed, which is a 

necessity in the role that we do.” Participant 1 

“Don’t think you have to make a decision on the spot 

actually stand back, take a breath, take all the evidence in 

and do it that way.” Participant 4 

Discussion 

A dearth of literature pertaining to the paramedic experience of transition 

from clinician to management prompted this study which explored the 

experiences of nine paramedics who underwent this role transition. 

The themes identified in this study were consistent with the wider 

literature and supported the findings of a lack of previous experience 

and qualifications in management before the transition. A similar study 

in the nursing profession found that participants lacked the feeling of 

structured training and felt poorly supported in their roles, depending 

instead on informal peer support and networking and felt let down by 

their organisation (15). 

Information gained in this study from two participants highlighted that the 

more senior you become in management roles, tertiary qualifications and 

experience become essential, although little financial or organisational 

support had been provided to assist in gaining these qualifications. 

The feeling of a lack of identity and isolation after role transition was 

an area experienced by all of the participants. Isolation and loneliness 

in the workplace lead to negative effects on work performance (16). A 

study conducted in a Turkish healthcare institution found that loneliness 

at work had a considerable effect on work alienation and increased 

workplace stress (17). This issue does not seem to be insulated to 

paramedics who transition to managers, as the nursing profession 

experience the same obstacle (18). 


Theme 5: Street cred 

An advantage of being a former clinician was expressed in that having 

contemporaneous clinical knowledge assisted with their credibility 

while transiting from clinician to manager. This was echoed by these 

participants where they speak of “street cred”: 

“Having the clinical knowledge just adds to I guess your 

street credibility.” Participant 2 

“I’ve had a lot of positivity in that they feel they’ve got a 

manager that they can approach.” Participant 9 

Theme 6: Stand back and take a breath 

This area did not seem to figure large in the scale of worries in the 

transition to manager but was something that participants identified 

as a new manager. That is, that you need to sometimes stand back 

and take some time before making decisions. This relates to time 

management and in meeting ongoing key performance indicators which 

pose a challenge. This was echoed by participant two, who believed as 

The perceived lack of trust from previous frontline colleagues, as 

expressed by this study’s participants, was also experienced in nursing 

where it was found that although much emphasis was placed on the 

relationship of trust between patients and nurses, this did not translate 

to that of trust between the nurse and their manager (19). A study 

exploring the lack of trust between clinicians and managers, found that 

managers were often ‘between a rock and a hard place’ due to carrying 

out instructions from senior managers and the time pressures of their 

roles restricted them from the very important face-to-face discussions 

with their clinicians that allows trustworthiness to be developed (20). 

Although many areas of this study’s findings appear to be far from 

positive, some participants agreed that the credibility of having been 

a former paramedic provided a sense of trustworthiness from their 

frontline colleagues and they often had an automatic respect for having 

‘walked in their shoes’. Having diverse clinical experience before 

transitioning to a management role proved to be helpful in building or 

maintaining these relationships (21). 

42 


FEATURE 

One topic raised, that several of the participants found challenging, was 

time management. In the role of a paramedic, tasks tend to be focussed 

on one or two patients at a time, however, once in management, 

prioritisation of tasks and that feeling of being overwhelmed can 

sometimes make new managers unsure of what to tackle first. 

Maintaining a routine for the repetitive tasks, and leaving time for 

the unexpected, can help with any manager’s day (22). Prioritisation 

of goal setting is something that is of significance, and as such it is 

important to learn the art of delegation, planning, communication and 

meeting management (22). Often for managers, procrastination and 

unnecessary phone calls can reduce effectiveness of their day. This, 

along with saying ‘no’ to unplanned visitors, affected female managers 

more often than it did their male counterparts (23). It is often assumed 

that doctors and nurses are automatically good leaders and managers, 

the same has been assumed for paramedics (24). A more structured 

and planned pathway into management should be created to identify, 

attract and retain quality managers (25). 

Limitations and recommendations 

The main limitation of this study is that it only involved one paramedic 

ambulance service. Existing practice and organisational culture may 

have influenced the perspectives of the participants, however, several 

participants had wide experience from other ambulance services, and 

this broadened their descriptions. As the research was restricted to only 

include managers that had previously been frontline paramedics, this 

also narrowed the suite of potential participants. There was an unequal 

representation of males versus females. Although female paramedics 

now equate to 43% of the workforce, this does not translate to the 

percentage of female managers in the organisation under study (26). 

There may have been a concern that a small sample size could affect 

the results. Nonetheless, the researcher is confident that saturation was 

achieved. In addition, these nine participants could have had limitations 

on the broad perspective and experiences of the full cohort of managers 

within the organisation, and it is acknowledged that this smaller sample 

size may not reflect the experiences of the full workforce (27). 

Conclusion 

Information gained in this study concerning a paramedic who 

transitions to a manager role would suggest little to no prior training 

in management is provided. The study identified that management 

training is often offered retrospectively and commonly takes place once 

an issue is identified, sometime after the role has commenced. These 

findings were echoed in the limited available literature and was also true 

of other healthcare professions. It is hoped that these results will add 

to the contemporary literature related to this topic and it is anticipated 

the information and knowledge obtained within this study may be 

beneficial to senior managers in developing recruitment programs and 

courses to provide to frontline paramedics. Further, this information 

may support paramedics in their transition from clinician to manager 

by providing them with advice concerning the importance of leadership 

and management education required to successfully transition to a 

management role. 

Competing interests 

The authors declare no competing interests. Each author of this paper 

has completed the ICMJE conflict of interest statement. 

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leadership and management in health care worldwide. Boston, MA: Management 

Sciences for Health; 2006. 

25. Spehar I, Frich JC, Kjekshus LE. Clinicians’ experiences of becoming a clinical 

manager: a qualitative study. BMC Health Serv Res 2012;12:421. 

26. Rural and Remote Health, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Available at: 

www.aihw.gov.au/reports/rural-health/rural-remote-health/contents/rural-health 

[Accessed 16 July 2020]. 

27. Patton MQ. Qualitative research & evaluation methods: integrating theory and 

practice. 4th edn. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage; 2015. 


Do you have anything you would like to add or include in Features? Please contact us and let us know. 

43

NEWSLINE 

carried out by East Midlands 

emergency medical technicians. 1 

References 

Self-administered 

inhaled painkiller 

shows superiority in 

prehospital setting 

A new study has revealed an 

inhaled analgesic recently 

introduced to the UK is the 

most effective form of severe 

pain relief in the prehospital 

setting following traumatic 

injury, in terms of speed of 

pain reduction. 1 

Treatment during the first 

hour after trauma is vital to 

improve patient survival and 

good analgesia can result in 

easier injury management and 

the potential to avoid chronic 

pain development. 2,3 Despite 

this, less than a third of people 

in UK ambulances are given 

appropriate pain relief. 4 

The year-long MAPIT study, 

led by Professor Aloysius 

Niroshan Siriwardena of the 

University of Lincoln, UK, and 

Ambulance Service, showed 

that the analgesic Penthrox ®▼ 

(methoxyflurane), acts more 

than three times quicker than the 

most frequently used – and also 

inhaled – analgesic, Entonox ® 

(gas and air), more than three 

times quicker than intravenous 

paracetamol, and twice as quick 

as intravenous morphine to 

reduce severe pain. 1 

Methoxyflurane, which has been 

dubbed the ‘green whistle’ 

has already been proven to 

be a convenient and effective 

option for pain relief, leading to 

a significant reduction in time 

spent in the hospital emergency 

department. Although it is used 

regularly in UK emergency 

departments, it is not widely 

used in ambulances. 5-8 

The data from the MAPIT study, 

was today (Tuesday 23rd March) 

shared at the 999 EMS Research 

Forum Annual Conference, 

providing the first comprehensive 

UK comparison of analgesic 

options used by paramedics and 

The evidence means prehospital 

emergency staff can now 

feel confident when choosing 

methoxyflurane as a first-line 

treatment option for moderateto-severe 

trauma pain. 

Rapid and effective pre-hospital 

analgesia has the potential to 

improve the patient journey 

end-to-end. With the NHS 

continuing to face an exceptional 

crisis following the outbreak of 

COVID-19 and unprecedented 

levels of pressure to free up 

resources across all treatment 

settings, the study results are 

welcome news. 1-3 

Chief Investigator, Professor 

Aloysius Niroshan Siriwardena, 

commented: “There are many 

barriers to adequate pain relief. 

This study is the first to compare 

methoxyflurane with all other 

commonly used analgesics 

in the prehospital setting and 

the superior results add to the 

weight of positive findings from 

other UK and European hospital 

studies. 

1. Smith M, Rowan E, et al. 

Evaluation of the effectiveness 

and costs of inhaled 

methoxyflurane versus usual 

analgesia for prehospital injury 

and trauma. Presented at 999 

EMS Research Forum Annual 

Conference, March 2021 

2. Chambers J, Guly H. The 

need for better pre-hospital 

analgesia. Archives of 

Emergency medicine. 1993;10: 

187-192 

3. Friesgaard K, Riddervold 

I, et al. Acute pain in the 

prehospital setting: a registerbased 

study of 41,241 

patients. Scandinavian Journal 

of Trauma, Resuscitation 

and Emergency Medicine. 

2018;26(53) 

4. Siriwardena AN, Shaw D, 

Bouliotis G. Exploratory crosssectional 

study of factors 

associated with pre-hospital 

management of pain. J Eval 

Clin Pract 2010; 16(6): 1269-75. 

5. Fabbri A, Ruggiano G, Garcia 

Collado S, et al. Role of 

inhaled methoxyflurane in the 

management of acute trauma 

pain. J Pain Res 2020;13:1547- 

“From an academic perspective, 

55. 

it is an important addition to 

the evidence, and we look 

forward to seeing how greater 

uptake impacts patients in other 

ambulance trusts.” 

6. Porter KM, Siddiqui MK, 

Sharma I, Dickerson S, 

Eberhardt A. Management 

of trauma pain in the 

emergency setting: low-dose 

methoxyflurane or nitrous 

Dr Leon Roberts, Medical 

oxide? A systematic review and 

Director for East Midlands 

indirect treatment comparison. 

Ambulance Service NHS Trust, 

J Pain Res. 2018;11:11-21. 


which carried out the study, 

commented: “Rapid and 

effective pain relief is undeniably 

important in the prehospital 

setting and this study shows 

that emergency care staff have 

access to a well-tolerated 

treatment, which is easy to 

administer. EMAS is proud 

to be a leading organisation 

in prehospital research 

collaborating with key partners 

such as the University of Lincoln, 

who has analysed and evaluated 

7. Xia AD, Dickerson SL, Watson 

A, Nokela M, Colman S, 

Szende A. Evaluation of 

pain relief treatment and 

timelines in emergency care 

in six European countries and 

Australia. Open Access Emerg 

Med. 2019;11:229-40. 

8. Young L, Bailey G, McKinley 

J. Service evaluation of 

methoxyflurane versus standard 

care for overall management of 

patients with pain due to injury. 

Adv Ther. 2020;37(5):2520- 

this data.” 

2527. 

44 


NEWSLINE 

YAS 

Yorkshire Ambulance 

Service wins gold 

at national Learning 

Awards 

The Ambulance Support Worker 

apprenticeship programme at 

Yorkshire Ambulance Service 

NHS Trust has won a gold 

award at the national 2021 

Learning Awards held virtually 

on 18 February. 

Launched in 2018, Yorkshire 

Ambulance Service was the first 

ambulance service to introduce 

the Ambulance Support Worker 

(emergency, urgent and nonurgent) 

apprenticeship. It provides 

another pathway for career 

development to paramedic and 

the 12-18 month apprenticeship 

allows apprentices to learn on the 

frontline and includes six weeks’ 

classroom-based training and four 

weeks’ blue-light driver training. 

The Trust was shortlisted for 

Apprenticeship Programme of 

the Year and took gold ahead of 

seven other public and private 

sector finalists in the category. 

Organised by the Learning and 

Performance Institute (LPI), the 

online ceremony marked the 

learning sector’s 25th annual 

celebration of outstanding 

achievement and best practice in 

corporate learning and performance 

by organisations and individuals. 

Presented by British TV and radio 

personality Claudia Winkleman 

and joined by an online audience 

of thousands, the Learning 

Awards ceremony was broadcast 

in the style of a TV event and 

hosted live from a recording 

studio in London. 

Yorkshire Ambulance Service’s 

apprenticeship programme was 

cited as a clear winner, being 

the first of its kind in the UK and 

praised for being well designed 

and clearly demonstrating a 

strong impact on the organisation. 

The judging panel recognised 

that the Trust worked as part of 

a national trailblazer group to 

develop a programme for the 

ambulance service that meets a 

need to provide an entry point into 

the service and offers a robust 

career progression pathway. 

In addition, the programme was 

commended for supporting 

workforce planning and having a 

positive influence on the quality of 

patient care. In terms of measurable 

success, there have been very 

positive results with assessment 

pass rates and staff retention. 


currently has 235 clinical 

apprentices working to 

qualifications over three 

different apprenticeship levels 

– Emergency Care Assistant, 

Associate Ambulance Practitioner 

and Paramedic. The Trust also 

has 50 non-clinical apprentices 

in post within its non-emergency 

Patient Transport Service, 

Emergency Operations Centre 

and support services. 

Dawn Adams, Head of the 


Academy, commented: “We 

are thrilled to have won this 

award and are very proud of the 

apprenticeship programme and 

career development pathway we 

have developed. The Trust is 

highly committed to the provision 

of apprenticeships and we have 

much appreciated support 

from stakeholders, learners and 

clinicians which has helped to 

shape, embed and deliver the 

programme. It has provided 

fresh stimulus for learning across 

the organisation and what really 

stands out is that our learners are 

at the heart of its success. 

“Information on both clinical and 

non-clinical apprenticeships 

is available on the Yorkshire 

Ambulance Service website. We 

are likely to be opening recruitment 

for our award-winning Ambulance 

Support Worker apprenticeship 

in March or April and again later 

in the year so we look forward to 

welcoming more apprentices to 

the Trust in the near future.” 

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45

NEWSLINE 


SECAMB 

SECAmb marks 50 

years since birth of 

UK paramedics in 

Brighton 

South East Coast Ambulance 

Service (SECAmb) is 

celebrating 50 years since 

the birth of the UK paramedic 

profession in Brighton. 

It was March 1971 when the first 

‘ambulance men’, who had been 

selected for additional training 

with renowned cardiologist 

Douglas Chamberlain, began 

to respond to patients in the 

Brighton area equipped with the 

first ambulance defibrillators. 

The six men, who had attended 

lectures by Dr Chamberlain, and 

whose additional skills included 

being taught to interpret ECGs 

and administer particular drugs 

for cardiac emergencies, paved 

the way for the development and 

formalisation of the profession 

over the next decade and beyond. 

SECAmb marked the anniversary 

via its social media channels 

and paid tribute to Douglas 

whose early work led to better 

outcomes for people suffering 

cardiac arrests in the community. 

The Trust will also share how the 

profession has developed in its 

service over half a century. 

Just one of the original six 

individuals is still alive. Robin 

Friday, 78, now lives in Kent and 

retired from SECAmb in 2012. He 

proudly recalls being selected for 

the additional training. 

He said: “I look back fondly on my 

50-year career in the ambulance 

service. I am very proud to have 

been one of the original six to 

undergo the additional training 

under Douglas Chamberlain. This 

undoubtedly was a very important 

early step towards the ambulance 

service developing into the service 

it is today. We were, for the first 

time, bringing far more expert 

care to patients prior to their 

arrival at hospital.” 

Douglas said: “The profession 

has of course come a long way 

in 50 years but I am very proud 

of the first individuals and this 

work I and my colleagues did to 

progress the role the ambulance 

service plays in pre-hospital care. 

“From my association with 

SECAmb over many years I am 

very aware that a career in the 

ambulance service is challenging 

and I am sure especially so during 

this last year. It is, however, also 

extremely rewarding and I would 

encourage anyone with an interest 

to seriously consider it as a future 

career.” 

SECAmb Chief Executive Philip 

Astle added: “I would like to 

pay tribute to Douglas and his 

clinical colleagues as well as 

Robin and his fellow members 

of staff. Their decision to be part 

of this innovation was vital in the 

ambulance service being more 

actively involved in the type of prehospital 

care which is so important 

in improving patient outcomes.” 

Strokes caused by 

Covid-19 under the 

spotlight in world’s 

largest research 

study 

The Stroke Association is 

funding the world’s largest 

research study to investigate 

worrying reports that Covid-19 

is causing life-threatening 

strokes [1-2]. As Covid-19 cases 

continue to rise across the 

globe, this critical research may 

help to prevent Covid-19-related 

death and disability. The study 

will build on the work of the 

British Heart Foundation (BHF) 

Data Science Centre at Health 

Data Research UK (HDR UK). 

100,000 people in the UK have 

a stroke each year, that’s one 

every five minutes and means 

there are over 1.2 million stroke 

survivors in the UK. Stroke is the 

fourth biggest killer in the UK, the 

second biggest killer in the world 

and one of the leading causes of 

adult disability. 

Announced today, the study 

uses health data from nearly 

all UK adults. Having access to 

large amounts of data will allow 

the researchers to follow the 

health of Covid-19 patients. Data 

analysts will compare stroke in 

patients who have tested positive 

for Covid-19 with patients without 

the virus, to confirm if Covid-19 

increases risk of stroke and by 

how much. 

The researchers will also analyse 

stroke risk and characteristics 

including age, sex, ethnicity 

and geography to identify 

which Covid-19 patients may 

be most at risk of stroke. Stroke 

risk due to Covid-19 will be 

compared to increases in stroke 

risk due to other infections and 

cardiovascular conditions. 

Dr Rubina Ahmed, Research 

Director, Stroke Association 

said: “Stroke already strikes every 

five minutes and we’re extremely 

concerned that Covid-19 may 

lead to more strokes, destroying 

more lives. Equally concerning 

are reports that stroke patients 

who have Covid-19 may be 

younger, and experience more 

severe effects of stroke, including 

death [3]. Severe illness due 

to Covid-19 is a challenge 

enough– but it’s worrying that a 

deadly stroke might also be on 

the way. This new research can 

help guide the development of 

new treatments that can prevent 

life-threatening strokes.” 

This research forms part of the 

CVD-COVID-UK flagship project 

consortium, which is led by the 

BHF Data Science Centre at HDR 

UK. This project consortium aims 

to understand the relationship 

between Covid-19 and 

cardiovascular diseases such as 

heart attack and stroke in the UK 

population. 

Dr William Whiteley, Reader 

in neurology at the University 

of Edinburgh and a lead on 

this research said: “Covid-19 

may cause stroke in some 

patients. So far studies of 

Covid and stroke have been 

small. More data will improve 

our understanding and give 

a better idea of the risks of 

stroke after Covid-19 infection. 

With the funding of the Stroke 

Association and access to the 

data and research community 

brought together by the BHF 

Data Science Centre, the team 

can use health information 

from nearly all adults in the UK. 

By working with information 

specialists, we’ll be able to 

accurately detect even the 

smallest increase in risk of 

stroke across different groups 

of people. We’re incredibly 

grateful to have the support of 

charities to help get this urgent 

research underway, so that we 

can better inform patients and 

health care professionals about 

Covid-19 and risk of stroke.” 

Since the start of the Covid-19 

pandemic in early 2020, there 

have been reports of Covid-19 

patients also having a stroke. 

David Kirton, 64 from South 

Shields had a stroke shortly after 

being diagnosed and treated for 

Covid-19. 

David said: “We think my 

stroke was linked with the 

effect Covid-19 has on the 

blood. Because it was so early 

in the pandemic, I don’t think 

they were prepared for people 

having strokes. They just knew 

something was wrong and were 

trying whatever they could think 

of to find out what the problem 

was. It was absolutely terrifying.” 

46 


NEWSLINE 

David adds: “If people know 

Covid-19 can cause strokes, they 

will be able help prevent it from 

happening and make sure there is 

the right support. Even awareness 

is potentially going to save lives 

and as much physical and mental 

ability as possible. If people can 

get stroke treatment quickly, and 

administer the right drugs at the 

right time, it could make a big 

difference.” 

Dr Rubina Ahmed continues: 

“We will be living with Covid-19 

for the foreseeable future 

and we don’t want to see the 

pandemic leave more deadly 

strokes in its wake. Stroke is a 

leading cause of adult disability 

in the UK and the second biggest 

killer in the world. This research 

is crucial to our understanding 

of Covid-19 and strokes, but 

this is just the tip of the iceberg. 

The Covid-19 pandemic has 

had a devastating impact on 

our income and is threatening 

life-saving breakthroughs. Now 

more than ever, we need the 

public’s support. If you can, 

please help us find a way through 

the research funding crisis by 

donating today, so that we can 

fund more life-saving research.” 

Juliet Bouverie, Chief Executive 

of the Stroke Association 

said: “We’ve been supporting 

stroke survivors throughout the 

pandemic through our Helpline 

and our Stroke Association 

Connect and Here For You 

services. Strokes changes lives 

in an instant and stroke survivors 

need support to recover, cope 

and adapt and those with 

Covid-19 may have additional 

needs. We need to be prepared 

with new knowledge about links 

between Covid-19 and stroke to 

support people affected by stroke 

long into the future.” 

Prof Cathie Sudlow, Director of 

the BHF Data Science Centre at 

Health Data Research UK said: 

“The BHF Data Science Centre 

is delighted to be providing 

the scientific and data access 

infrastructure to enable this 

important Stroke Associationfunded 

research project. We 

look forward to working with 

and supporting Dr Whiteley 

and his research team as they 

generate insights to help people 

with stroke, their carers and 

health professionals understand 

the impact of Covid-19 on 

stroke risk, and make informed 

decisions about their treatment 

and care.” 

Over the past 30 years the 

Stroke Association has played a 

crucial role in supporting stroke 

research in the UK. This year, 

as a result of the pandemic 

the charity has had to halve its 

budget for stroke research. 

To find out more about research 

funded by the charity visit 

stroke.org.uk/research or to 

donate please go to: stroke.org. 

uk/donate-research 

References 

[1] Ling, Mao., Huijuan, 

Jin., Mengdie, Wang., et al. 

Neurologic Manifestations 

of Hospitalized Patients With 

Coronavirus Disease 2019 

in Wuhan, China. JAMA 

Neurol. 2020;77(6):683- 

690. doi:10.1001/ 

jamaneurol.2020.1127. 

[2] Shadi, Yaghi., Koto, 

Ishida., Jose, Torres., et al. 

SARS-CoV-2 and Stroke 

in a New York Healthcare 

System. 2020;51:2002– 

2011. doi.org/10.1161/ 

STROKEAHA.120.030335Stroke. 

[3] Ntaios G, et al. 

Characteristics and outcomes 

in patients with Covid-19 and 

acute ischemic stroke. Stroke. 

2020;51:e254–e258. 

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For the latest Ambulance Service News visit: www.ambulancenewsdesk.com 

47

NEWSLINE 

WAST 

Wales – The Welsh 

Ambulance Service 

(WAST) will receive 

84 new operational 

vehicles as part of 

Welsh Government 

£10.9M investment 

The Minister for Health and 

Social Services, Vaughan 

Gething has also announced a 

further £1.6m in funding to the 

Emergency Medical Retrieval 

and Transfer Service (EMRTS) 

to expand the service into a 

24/7 operation and establish the 

Critical Care Transfer Service. 

This is additional money following 

the £1.7m already given to the 

service. 

This service will support the 

national transfer of critically ill 

adults across Wales. 

Ambulances in Wales, the 

relevance of the Emergency 

Medical Retrieval and Transfer 

Service (EMRTS) 

The Emergency Medical Retrieval 

and Transfer Service (EMRTS) 

provides consultant and critical 

care practitioner-delivered prehospital 

critical care across Wales. 

The funding announced today will 

allow the service to upgrade its 

existing fleet, allowing the service 

to deliver the best care for people 

in Wales. 

“I’m also pleased to announce 

further funding which will establish 

a new Critical Care Transfer 

Service and see the expansion 

of EMRTS to a 24/7 operation, 

in partnership with the Wales Air 

Ambulance Charity.” 

Chris Turley, the Welsh Ambulance 

Service’s Executive Director of 

Finance, said: “Our ambulances 

and response cars in Wales are 

some of the most modern and 

well equipped in the UK and this 

funding will allow us to continue 

to replace our vehicles as they 

reach the end of their working life 

“Modern ambulances are essential 

in order that we can continue to 

provide the best treatment and 

patient experience possible. 

“They’re also important for staff 

who spend the majority of their 

working day out and about in the 

community. 

“It’s never been more important 

than ever to have a fleet which 

keeps the wheels turning on our 

ambulance service, and we’re 

grateful to Welsh Government for 

its continued support.” 

specialist critical care ambulances 

will give us the capacity to support 

colleagues across NHS Wales with 

the transfer of critically ill patients 

between hospitals by road. 

“We are very grateful for the 

ongoing support from Welsh 

Government, which has allowed 

our service to grow and make a 

significant contribution to critical 

care in Wales.” 

RCUK welcomes CQC 

and Compassion in 

Dying reports into 

DNACPR use during 

the pandemic 

Quote from Resuscitation 

Council UK for publication 

Sue Hampshire, Director of 

Clinical and Service Development 

at Resuscitation Council UK, 

said: “People should be at the 

centre of their care and decision 

making. However, the COVID-19 

pandemic has brought into the 

spotlight inconsistencies in the ways 

DNACPR decision making is carried 

out across the UK and just how 

crucial it is that decisions about CPR 

are discussed in the broader context 

of overall goals of care. 

“Both the CQC review and 

Compassion in Dying reports 

puts the person at the heart of 

the conversation and ensures 

that people’s views about CPR 

are taken into consideration. The 

process is already used in around 

70-80% of English counties. 

“The ReSPECT process 

helps to ensure that clinical 

recommendations around 

emergency care and treatment, 

including decisions about CPR, 

are not made in isolation. Instead, 

any recommendations made are 

part of a broader conversation 

which aims to develop a shared 

understanding with the person, 

their legal proxy or family, about the 

person’s condition, the outcomes 

the person values and those they 

fear and clinical recommendations 

about future emergency care and 

treatment. As such the ReSPECT 

process provides reassurance 

that recommendations around 

whether CPR should be attempted 

are made in the context of what’s 

important to the person concerned. 

“We would like to see all 

regulatory bodies across the UK 

and all health and social care 

organisations recognise the value 

of the ReSPECT process so that 

people and their families can take 

part in person-centred discussions 

and decision-making. This will help 

ensure quality, person-centred 

care and treatment for all wherever 

they live across the UK.” 


It was launched at the end of 

April 2015 and is a partnership 

between Wales Air Ambulance 

Charity, Welsh Government and 

NHS Wales. 

The funding will be used to 

fund three specialist critical 

care ambulances and will see 

investment in equipment to 

support the expansion of the 

EMRTS service Minister for 

Health and Social Services, 

Vaughan Gething, said: “The 

Welsh Ambulance Service has 

experienced a huge surge in 

demand on its services due to the 

Covid-19 pandemic. 

Role of ambulances in Wales: 

Lockey’s analysis, EMRTS 

National Director 

Professor David Lockey, EMRTS 

National Director, added: “The 

funding has allowed us to extend 

our critical care provision into a 

24/7 service. 

This, along with our partnership 

with the Wales Air Ambulance 

Charity, has helped us improve 

equality of access to rapid 

emergency-department standard 

care across the country. 

“In addition, the funding for three 

highlight the importance of 

information, training and support, the 

need for people to be at the centre 

of their care and decision making 

and the need for a consistent, 

national approach to advanced 

care planning. People should be 

supported in decision-making 

sensitively and effectively wherever 

they live around the country. 

“We urge NHS England and 

Improvement to take this 

opportunity to champion the 

use of the Recommended 

Summary Plan for Emergency 

Care and Treatment (ReSPECT) 

process nationally. ReSPECT 

Background information 

Resuscitation Council UK welcomes 

the publication of two crucial 

reports today into Do Not Attempt 

Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation 

(DNACPR) decision-making during 

the COVID-19 pandemic. 

We call upon NHS England and 

Improvement to champion the use of 

the Recommended Summary Plan 

for Emergency Care and Treatment 

(ReSPECT) process nationally. 

The Care Quality Commission 

(CQC) has published its final 

48 


NEWSLINE 

report following its review of 

DNACPR decisions during the 

COVID-19 pandemic. Over 

the last few months, the CQC 

has engaged with a range of 

stakeholders, including RCUK. 

They have spoken to people and 

their families affected by DNACPR 

decision-making during the 

pandemic, to a range of health 

and social care providers and 

professionals involved in their care 

and reviewed people’s records in 

seven CCG areas. This has led to 

them making recommendations 

around the following key areas: 

• information, training, and 

support 

• the need for a consistent, 

national approach to advanced 

care planning and DNACPR 

decisions 

• oversight and assurance 

at local and system level to 

ensure that people experience 

personalised, compassionate 

care in relation to DNACPR 

decisions 

The report cites ReSPECT as a 

good example of an advance care 

planning process that when done 

well, can support everyone to 

make decisions about their future 

care and treatment. 

SCAS 

Paramedics 

turn written-off 

ambulance into 

innovative training 

simulation pod 

Paramedics at South Central 

Ambulance Service (SCAS) 

have given life-saving treatment 

to an ambulance which was 

written off after a road traffic 

collision – by using it to create 

an innovative training pod. 

The SCAS education team in 

Newbury had the body of the 

vehicle repaired to repurpose it as 

a training simulator and provide 

the opportunity for students to 

learn in the real thing. 

It weighs 4.5 tonnes before the 

addition of kit and includes all the 

essentials – as well as a working 

tail lift and even a power line to 

flick on the blue lights and sirens 

to add to the experience. 

It is the latest addition to the 

family of simulators at the 

SCAS Education and Enhanced 

Simulation Centre, a facility that 

includes six purpose-built training 

and environment rooms that 

recreate patients’ journeys from 

“The ambulance converted was 

unfortunately involved in a serious 

road traffic collision and was not 

fit to return to the road, so not only 

have we avoided losing a vehicle 

from the fleet, we are now in the 

fortunate position of using this 

one to train a new generation of 

staff.” 

He added: “While there are many 

simulators around, many of these 

are purpose-built as opposed 

to developed from real vehicles 

and are therefore limited in their 

ability to provide a real-life training 

environment. 

“We believe this is the first pod 

of its kind having been salvaged 

from the scrapheap and able 

to provide the most realistic 

experience of any simulator – so 

we are extremely pleased with the 

outcome. 

“We’ve even had a label added 

to the side to say it is probably 

the best ambulance pod in the 

country - we think it is!” 

will be the first to use the new kit. 

Medics will be able to press a 

button to record if a patient or 

member of the public becomes 

threatening or aggressive. The 

footage can then be used in court 

to aid prosecutions. 

Paramedic Kristoffer Fairhurst, 

based in Burnley, will be amongst 

the first to use the cameras. He 

said: “Sadly it is all too common 

for frontline staff to be subject to 

violence by the very people we 

are trying to help. I have worked 

for the ambulance service for 13 

years and during that time I have 

been kicked, spat at, shouted at 

and even threatened with a knife. 

“This should not be happening and 

I am hoping that these cameras will 

give us an extra level of protection 

to deter incidents of abuse as well 

as assist with prosecutions and 

make staff feel safer.” 

In 2020, almost 400 incidents of 

physical assaults were reported 

against staff in the North West, 

a rise of 4% since 2018 despite 

lockdown measures in place. 

In addition, there were 1,061 

incidents of verbal abuse or 

threatening behaviour reported. 

Director of Operations Ged Blezard 

A report, also published today, 

by the charity Compassion in 

Dying, highlights the good and 

bad experiences of people 

from across the UK who have 

contacted them about DNACPR 

decisions made for them or their 

loved ones during the pandemic. 

While these significant reports 

highlight examples of poor 

practice in relation to DNACPR 

decision-making during the 

pandemic, they also recognise 

that not everyone wants 

cardiopulmonary resuscitation 

(CPR) to be attempted. For many 

people, DNACPR decisions offer 

reassurance that they will not be 

given an intervention that may be 

home, into to a mobile simulated 

ambulance and then at handover 

to a hospital’s emergency 

department resuscitation bay. 

“What we really love about the 

introduction of this simulation 

pod is that its authenticity will 

give students a much more 

enhanced and lifelike insight into 

the workings of the vehicle and 

its kit,” said Darren Best, Senior 

Education Manager at SCAS. 

NWAS 

Ambulance service 

to trial body worn 

cameras 

Ambulance crews in the North 

West are set to be equipped 

with body worn video cameras 

in a bid to reduce violence and 

aggression against frontline staff. 

As part of a national pilot, North 

West Ambulance Service (NWAS) 

will be rolling out the cameras 

from 31 March. It will start in areas 

that see the highest number of 

incidents of abuse against staff. 

Central Manchester, East 

said: “Our staff work day in, day 

out to protect and care for their 

patients, they do not deserve to be 

subject to abuse and assaults. 

“It’s a top priority for us to keep 

our staff safe and this is a huge 

step towards reducing violence 

and aggression against them. Not 

only will this aid in prosecutions of 

offenders but it is hoped to help 

de-escalate situations and avoid 

attacks from even taking place” 

NWAS has a dedicated violence 

and aggression group that has 

been set up to proactively target 

frequent offenders and work with 

the police and partner agencies 

to put sanctions in place where 


unwanted or unsuccessful. 

Lancashire and parts of Merseyside 

possible. 

Do you have anything you would like to add or include in Newsline? Please contact us and let us know. 

49

NEWSLINE 

LAS 

Duke and Duchess 

of Cambridge visit 

ambulance station 

to meet teams 

supporting each 

other through COVID 

pandemic 

Midlands Air Ambulance Charity, 

the organisation is developing a 

purpose-built airbase and charity 

headquarters in the Shropshire 

area, which will benefit patients 

across the whole of the 

Midlands. 

The robust plans were approved 

by Shropshire Council late January, 

the charity’s Board of Trustees 


The Duke and Duchess of 

Cambridge visited Newham 

Ambulance Station in East 

London to speak to ambulance 

staff and paramedics about their 

experiences of working during 

one of the most challenging 

periods in the London 

Ambulance Service’s history. 

London Ambulance Service NHS 

Trust Chair Heather Lawrence 

OBE welcomed the couple along 

with Deputy Chief Executive 

Khadir Meer. 

Heather Lawrence OBE said: 

“It is very much appreciated that 

Their Royal Highnesses took 

time to visit and thank our staff 

who have worked throughout the 

pandemic often in very stressful 

and distressing circumstances.” 

Khadir Meer said: 

“Our Service has had to work 

harder than ever over the past 

year to care for London. It’s vital 

and extremely rewarding work, 

but it can take a toll and even the 

most resilient of us need support 

at times like these. 

“Looking after our people is 

essential to continue to care for 

Londoners. This is why we are 

trying to do everything we can to 

support the physical and mental 

health of our teams working under 

such pressure.” 

Covering the boroughs of 

Newham and Waltham Forest, 

Newham Station forms part of the 

second busiest station group in 

the London Ambulance Service 

having attended over 76,500 

calls over the past year. During 

the visit, The Duke and Duchess 

joined paramedic Jahrin Khan in 

the Station’s Wellbeing Garden 

to hear how she has coped with 

the pressures of responding to 

the COVID-19 pandemic, and 

including impact of having to 

isolate from her family. 

Their Royal Highnesses also 

heard more about the mental 

health and wellbeing support 

provided to staff at the Station, 

including drop-in sessions and 

wellbeing spaces, alongside 

some of the wider initiatives 

provided by the London 

Ambulance Service including their 

fleet of Wellbeing Tea Trucks. 

Launched in February 2020, the 

tea trucks travel to hospitals and 

control centres across the capital 

each day, serving hot drinks and 

snacks to ambulance staff and 

volunteers and offering them 

the chance to take a moment to 

pause and refresh. The trucks 

also allow staff who are currently 

unable to work in patient-facing 

roles the opportunity to give back 

to their frontline colleagues. At the 

Station, The Duke and Duchess 

met paramedic Shani Smith who 

has been helping to run one of 

the trucks over the past year, 

and heard how she has used her 

mental health training to provide 

peer support to her colleagues. 

The London Ambulance Service 

has received £100,000 of funding 

from NHS Charities Together, of 

which Their Royal Highnesses 

are joint Patrons, to enable them 

to continue to run the trucks and 

expand their provision in order 

to meet the needs of crew and 

volunteers during this challenging 

time. The funding has also been 

used to create isolation packs and 

food for staff across LAS sites. 

The Duke of Cambridge is 

committed to supporting the 

mental health and wellbeing of the 

emergency services community, 

having witnessed first-hand 

the challenges that emergency 

responders face on a daily basis 

during his roles as both an Air 

Ambulance and RAF Search and 

Rescue pilot. 

Over the last year, The Duke 

and Duchess and The Royal 

Foundation have worked to 

support those working on 

the frontline of the pandemic, 

including through the provision 

of grants to ten leading charities 

at the heart of mental health and 

frontline support as part of a 

bespoke COVID relief fund. 

Midlands Air 

Ambulance Charity’s 

plans to futureproof 

advanced prehospital 

care 

To help futureproof the advanced 

pre-hospital service operated by 

gave final approval of the plans in 

February and work is expected to 

start on site this spring. 

Midlands Air Ambulance Charity 

joins the growing number of air 

ambulance organisations who 

have identified the needed to 

develop a purpose-built facility 

in order to ensure clinical and 

non-clinical working environments 

are futureproofed, with 

approximately 50 per cent of the 

21 organisations undertaking a 

similar vital capital project. 

The charity’s new airbase and 

headquarters will help to address 

a number of challenges facing 

the service. These include 

the annual rising demand for 

advanced patient care on scene, 

the increased complexity of 

patient needs requiring specialist 

skills, medicines and equipment, 

and the fact there is insufficient 

training facilities for the critical 

care paramedics and pre-hospital 

emergency medicine doctors at 

the current facilities. 

In order to face these challenges 

head on and ensure the service 

is futureproofed for decades to 

come, as part of the build project, 


will create a state-of-the-art 

clinical training simulation suite. 

Hanna Sebright, chief executive 

for Midlands Air Ambulance 

Charity, states: “Over our 30-year 

history, our charity has been 

driven by a commitment to 

continuously improve advanced 

pre-hospital patient care across 

the Midlands. 

50 


NEWSLINE 

“We consider our new airbase and 

charity headquarters to be a vital 

development for the whole of the 

region. The new facility, located in 

Cosford, Shropshire, will feature 

clinical training facilities, which 

are fundamental to delivering the 

advanced training programmes 

required for our clinicians. This will 

ensure the critical care team are 

equipped to treat the increasingly 

complex patient cases and will 

enhance our daily lifesaving service.” 

A report by planning officer, Richard 

Fortune at Shropshire Council, who 

supported the plans says: “There 

is substantial public benefit from 

the provision of this service and the 

case presented amounts to very 

special circumstances sufficient to 

justify this proposal.” 


has been working with architects, 

Box Developments to design 

the facility, and planning and 

development consultancy Turley 

to secure planning permission 

from Shropshire Council. Initial 

groundwork will start on site this 

spring, and the site is expected 

to be completed late 2022. The 

new facility will complement the 

charity’s existing air ambulanceled 

service across the six 

Midlands counties. 

Initial funding for the new 

development has been 

facilitated via major grants 

from organisations such as the 

Department for Health and Social 

Care and the HELP Appeal. 

In addition, the charity will use 

a proportion of its modest 

reserves and undertake specific 

fundraising campaigns for areas 

of the new airbase, including the 

clinical simulation training suite, 

memory garden and community 

education zone. 

For more information on 


and the plans can be found at 

midlandsairambulance.com/ 

airbaseheadquarters and follow 

the organisation on social media. 

SCAS 


first to supply 

Covid-19 patients 

with home oxygen 

monitoring kits to 

spot deterioration 

Paramedics at South Central 

Ambulance Service (SCAS) have 

become the first in the country 

to supply Covid-19 patients with 

home oxygen monitoring kits 

if they don’t require immediate 

admission to hospital but are at 

higher risk of complications. 

The initiative, which began in 

Hampshire but is now running 

across the Thames Valley region, 

will ensure patients who have mild 

symptoms but have other risk 

factors, such as age over 65 years, 

cancer or other health conditions, 

can monitor their oxygen levels 

and know when to seek help. 

The packs contain a pulse 

oximeter device, a symptom diary 

and a set of strict guidelines and 

are only distributed to patients who 

require emergency assessment by 

the ambulance service. 

The development follows recent 

research by clinicians at SCAS 

which identified that just a slight 

drop in blood oxygen levels - but 

within the normal range - could be 

an early important warning sign of 

deterioration in patients before the 

onset of breathlessness. 

In most cases of bacteria and 

non-Covid pneumonia, shortness 

of breath appears relatively early 

in the disease and ahead of any 

significant drop in oxygen levels, 

known as hypoxia. 

However, with Covid-19, a drop 

in oxygen levels often comes 

first, which is referred to as “silent 

hypoxia”, and patients can be 

significantly unwell by the time 

they become breathless. 

The team, which included SCAS 

Medical Director Dr John Black 

and Divisional Medical Director 

Professor Charles Deakin, studied 

almost 20,000 patients who called 

for an ambulance between March 

1 and July 31 last year. 

They then analysed the oxygen 

levels of 1,080 confirmed Covid 

positive patients at the point 

they were initially assessed by 

paramedics at home. 

Patients whose blood oxygen 

levels dropped only 1% to 2% 

below 96% - still within the normal 

range of 94% to 98% - and 

showed no signs of shortness of 

breath often went on to require 

admission to intensive care and 

had a lower chance of survival. 

Following the study, which was 

led by Dr Matthew Inada-Kim, 

a Consultant in General and 

Acute Medicine at Hampshire 

Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 

and published as a pre-print via 

medRxiv, NHS England launched 

a nationwide rollout of its COVID 

Oximetry @home initiative. 

The project involves supplying 

home pulse oximetry kits to 

people who test positive and are 

at higher risk of complications, 

such as those with health 

conditions and the over 65s, 

with around 300,000 supplied to 

patients across the country so far 

by local health systems. 

The oximeters work by placing 

a clip on the end of a finger to 

measure oxygen in the blood and 

heart rate and, if oxygen levels 

drop to 94% or 93%, patients are 

asked to call their GP or NHS 111 

– or 999 if it falls to 92% or less. 

“Our original research helped 

to inform the wider rollout of the 

COVID Oximetry @home project 

to enable patients in high-risk 

groups to monitor their blood 

oxygen levels directly and help 

ensure timely referral to hospital 

when indicated,” said Dr Black. 

“We are now pleased to be the 

first ambulance service to offer 

pulse oximeters to patients along 

with guidance once we have 

assessed them and determined 

they don’t need to be taken to 

hospital but are at increased risk 

of their condition changing. 

“It provides patients with the 

reassurance that they can keep 

regular check on their oxygen 

levels independently and seek 

the help they need if their levels 

drop below 95%, while for us it 

means our clinicians can leave 

patients knowing they have 

the ability to spot any change 

promptly and take swift action.” 

Dr Inada-Kim, who is also 

the National Clinical Lead for 

Deterioration at NHS England, 

said: “SCAS has produced 

groundbreaking research that 

has informed national policy and 

led to the evolution of the COVID 

home oximetry model and its 

staff are again leading the way 

with this new project to help 

identify patients at risk as early 

as possible.” 

An additional tab is being 

added to paramedics’ electronic 

patient record devices to allow 

them to record the provision of 

a pulse oximeter to help with 

a retrospective review of the 

effectiveness of the initiative. 

Dr Black added: “It is hoped that 

prompt identification of hypoxia 

through home oximetry will lead 

to earlier admission to hospital 

for patients who subsequently 

deteriorate. This has the potential 

to improve the clinical outcomes 

of Covid-19 patients who 

develop complications.” 

If a patient does not suffer any 

further complications and makes 

a recovery at home they are 

asked to return the device after 

14 days to their own GP Surgery 

or to their local COVID Oximetry 

@home service. 



51

NEWSLINE 


More than 1 in 3 

ambulance workers 

has contracted covid, 

new GMB poll says 

Almost a third of all NHS staff 

have had virus, health workers 

desperately need gold standard 

PPE, says GMB Union 

More than one in three ambulance 

workers has had covid-19 according 

to a new poll by GMB Union. 

In the survey of more than 1,600 

ambulance workers across the 

country, 37% of them have had 

coronavirus – with a massive 84% 

of them saying they caught it 

while on the job. [1] 

Almost 30% of ambulance 

workers who had covid said their 

symptoms were ‘really bad’ or 

‘required medical attention’. 

Across the whole NHS, 30% said 

they had caught the virus with 

almost 60% saying they passed it 

to a family member. 

GMB is clear that poor PPE is to 

blame, and the union is calling on 

the Government and Public Health 

England to urgently review PPE 

guidance for health workers. 

Ambulance workers report 

having to attend patients with 

flimsy gowns instead of proper 

PPE, nurses in hospitals working 

amongst Covid-19 patients say 

they are given only the most basic 

of surgical masks, while hospital 

trusts are not isolating and testing 

patients efficiently. 

Rachel Harrison, GMB National 

Officer, said: 

“Our health workers are dropping 

like flies – yet the Government 

and Public Health England still 

won’t give them proper, FFP 3 

protection. 

“This is a year into the pandemic - 

it’s a disgrace. 

“Our paramedics, technicians and 

practitioners are expected to treat 

suspected coronavirus patients 

with nothing but a flimsy mask 

and a plastic apron. 

“GMB has called for guidance to 

be reviewed since the start of the 

pandemic and unless ministers 

sit up and take notice, our health 

service will be overwhelmed.” 

References 

[1] GMB surveyed 3506 NHS 

workers across England and 

Wales, of whom 1616 were 

ambulance workers. 

The Prince of Wales 

sends video message 

to ambulance 

workers 

The Prince of Wales has recorded 

a video message (www.youtube. 

com/watch?v=8Snn56IWURU) 

to thank UK ambulance workers 

for their “tireless and selfless” 

service during the Covid-19 

pandemic. 

In the message, His Royal 

Highness pays tribute to the “sheer 

professionalism and commitment 

to duty” shown by ambulance 

colleagues over the past year. 

He says: “Every working day, you 

are, of course, used to dealing 

with life-threatening emergencies, 

and doing so with a dedication to 

the welfare of others that is in the 

finest traditions of our National 

Health Service. 

“However, during this most dreadful 

pandemic, you have surpassed 

yourselves in facing a previously 

unimaginable level of demand, 

day after day, week after week, 

month after month. The toll on 

your reserves of inner strength and 

endurance must, in consequence, 

often be almost unbearable.” 

The Prince says it is “truly 

inspiring” to hear of the 

willingness of ambulance 

colleagues to “go the extra mile - 

quite literally - in every emergency 

in order to save lives, to relieve 

pain and suffering” and provide 

“the human comfort that is so vital 

at such a time”. 

He speaks of the “personal risks”, 

“endless challenges” and “huge 

pressures” faced by ambulance 

colleagues and their families, 

and praises the “incalculable 

difference” ambulance care 

makes to people’s lives. 

His Royal Highness says: “You 

exemplify everything that is best 

about this country, so please 

remember that we owe you an 

immeasurable debt of gratitude 

for all you mean to us in these 

hardest of times.” 

As well as frontline crews, 

The Prince acknowledges 

those colleagues whose work 

is “less visible” but “no less 

vital” including emergency call 

handlers, support staff and the 

“army of volunteers”. 

He adds: “I can only offer what 

must seem like hopelessly 

inadequate, but nevertheless 

most heartfelt thanks, admiration 

and respect on behalf of the 

countless communities you serve 

in such a tremendously inspiring 

way up and down the length of 

this country.” 

NWAS Chief Executive Daren 

Mochrie said: “We’re honoured to 

have been given the tribute by His 

Royal Highness. After what has 

been an unrelenting period for our 

colleagues, I know this recognition 

will mean a lot as they give their 

all, not only on the frontline, but in 

our whole operation. 

I am extremely proud of the 

incredible team work that continues 

to provide high levels of service to 

our patients in their time of need.” 

LAS 

New apprenticeship 

scheme helps 

make becoming a 

paramedic more 

accessible 

London Ambulance Service 

has launched a new paramedic 

apprenticeship programme 

which hopes to make gaining a 

degree in paramedicine more 

accessible for staff. 

The nationally accredited 

programme, which started at 

LAS on 22 March, will see 40 

existing staff members, including 

Emergency Ambulance Crew 

(EACs) and Emergency Medical 

Technicians (EMTs), gain a degree 

and eligibility for Heath Care and 

Professional Council (HCPC) 

registration within two years. 

The course, run by the University 

of Cumbria, will allow clinicians 

who are already working on the 

frontline to continue to work while 

they progress to degree level and 

further develop their emergency 

care skills across the capital. 

Bernadette Brennan, an 

Emergency Ambulance Crew 

based at Hillingdon who recently 

enrolled on the programme, said: 

“It’s such a great opportunity to 

be able to develop my medical 

knowledge and clinical skills while 

still working shifts and getting 

further frontline experience. 

“I’m so excited to be able to 

qualify as a paramedic and 

continue to care for patients the 

best way that I can.” 

The apprenticeship is fully funded 

and classes will be delivered 

remotely by the university with the 

support of the ambulance service’s 

education team. Apprentices on 

this programme will also learn new 

skills on the job, working alongside 

52 


NEWSLINE 

qualified experienced clinicians 

and receiving support from 

practice educators. 

The university will allow those 

enrolled on the programme 

access to an abundance of 

materials and resources available 

to other university students too. 

Dr John Martin, Chief Paramedic 

and Quality Officer for London 

Ambulance Service, said: 

“This apprenticeship programme 

is a great opportunity for staff 

who may not have thought 

university was an option for them. 

By enrolling on this course they 

can now become a qualified 

paramedic and achieve the same 

high standard of training and 

education as those who take the 

standard degree route. 

“We know there is a national 

shortage of paramedics, so, by 

introducing this new programme 

with the university, we hope to 

help find an internal solution 

to this by developing our own 

talented and dedicated staff and 

supporting them to progress in 

their career.” 

The new apprenticeship 

programme runs alongside the 

already successful Associate 

Ambulance Practitioner 

apprenticeship, which is open to 

external applicants and is a route 

to becoming an EAC without any 

prior medical qualifications. 

The ambulance service offers a 

multitude of different routes for 

external and internal candidates to 

take to develop and start a career 

in healthcare. 

For more information on 

the different apprenticeship 

opportunities visit the London 

Ambulance Service website: 

www.londonambulance.nhs. 

uk/working-for-us/careeropportunities/apprenticeshipopportunities/ 

NWAS 


achieves a world first 

in sustainability 

The North West Ambulance 

Service is showing it’s leading 

the way when it comes to 

saving the environment and 

promoting sustainability within 

the healthcare sector. 

The trust received the Bronze 

level Carbon Literate Organisation 

accreditation, becoming the first 

NHS trust to be given this award, 

which is a real landmark for the 

service’s sustainability team. 

The award comes from the 

“not for profit” Carbon Literacy 

Project, an organisation who look 

to educate people about their 

own carbon footprint and how 

they can take steps to reduce 

it, both at home and at work. In 

order to achieve the standard 

NWAS spent the last 18 months 

developing a training programme 

specifically for other ambulance 

trusts to use “off the shelf” so staff 

can learn to take responsibility, 

and make a difference in 

promoting sustainability within the 

organisation. 

As well as the training programme 

the award also takes account of 

the trust’s existing environmental 

commitments and future plans. The 

bronze accreditation will last for the 

next three years, during which time 

the sustainability team will work 

towards achieving the standards 

required for the silver award. 

Karen Aguilera, Environmental 

Sustainability Officer said: “We’re 

incredibly proud to be ahead of 

the curve on this. Environmental 

targets can be hard to achieve as 

an organisation, as they require 

commitment and hard work from 

everyone from board level down, 

and we are very fortunate to have 

that at NWAS. 

As an organisation we’ve already 

declared a climate emergency so 

it’s important we follow through 

on that statement. The external 

accreditation shows we’re taking 

meaningful actions towards our 

targets and is a validation of our 

efforts.” 

“We will look to roll-out the 

carbon literacy training to our 

staff in the spring and other 

ambulance trusts are also 

looking at the programme for 

their staff.” 

Carbon Literacy Project 

Co-Founder and Director of 

Advocacy Phil Korbel said: 

“The NWAS Carbon Literacy 

course really brings home the 

message that we are in a climate 

emergency and that the service 

has an important role to play in 

tackling it. Vitally, it empowers 

participants to do their bit too. 

“It’s great to see this turn into a 

world first and we look forward 

to seeing the hard work of NWAS 

spread to other ambulance 

services in the UK and beyond.” 

NHS staff targeted 

by nearly 140,000 

malicious emails last 

year 

Cyber criminals bombarded 

NHS staffers with a total of 

137,476 malicious emails 

last year, according to official 

figures from NHS Digital, the 

national provider of information, 

data, and IT systems for the 

health service. 

The data, obtained under the 

Freedom of Information (FOI) 

Act by the Parliament Street 

think tank, revealed that doctors, 

nurses and admin staff reported 

27,958 suspected phishing 

emails targeted the NHSmail 

email service, designed to lure 

the recipient into handing over 

confidential data. Additionally, 

health workers reported 109,491 

suspected spam emails 

throughout the year. 

The data shows that January 

2020 was the highest month for 

reported attacks, with 29,355 in 

total, made up on 4,895 phishing 

attempts and 24,460 spam 

reports. The next highest month 

was the peak of UK lockdown 

restrictions in response to the 

Covid-19 pandemic, with 28,855 

malicious emails reported, made 

up of 5,749 phishing attacks, and 

23,106 spam reports. 

Interestingly, the period from 

April to December saw a 

steady decline in the number of 

suspicious emails reported to 

NHS Digital, decreasing from 

11,068 in April, down to a yearlylow 

of 4,382 in December. 

Despite these lower figures, in 

June 2020 NHS Digital revealed 

that more than a hundred NHSmail 

mailboxes had been compromised, 

and were sending malicious emails 

to external recipients. 

Chris Ross, SVP, International at 

Barracuda Networks comments: 

“These figures are a reminder 

that when it comes to stealing 

confidential data and wreaking 

havoc, cyber criminals still 

consider our health service to be 

fair game. Unfortunately, these 

scam emails are often incredibly 

realistic, lulling the victim into a 

false sense of security to hand 

over passwords, patient records, 

and sensitive information by 

impersonating legitimate brands 

and even fellow employees. 

“With the global pandemic putting 

a huge strain hardworking doctors, 

nurses, and clinical staff, it’s 

absolutely vital that email systems 

are properly protected from 

outsider threats, to block malicious 

emails before they reach the inbox. 

It is equally important for Trusts 

to issue the necessary guidance 

about the risks associated with 

phishing attacks, so that staff are 

aware of the techniques associated 

used and can think twice before 

handing over important information 

to suspicious third parties.” 



53

NEWSLINE 

A Message from 

Steve Evans MBE 

I thought I would tell you how 

lockdown made a massive 

difference to my saving lives. 

Before the first lockdown I had 

agreed, as a favour to a couple 

of my ex-students, I would visit 

them and give a presentation on 

basic ECGs based on my book, 

one was in Leeds, the other in 

Wigan, this would reach about 

30 Ambulance Staff/Student 

Paramedics each time. 

Then came lockdown, now we 

have to put into the equation I am 

65 years old and retired over four 

years ago! 

One of the group suggested 

that I do a webinar on zoom and 

record it so those not present 

could benefit - I had never done 

this before, then someone said 

why not open a Youtube Channel 

making it easier to share, I 

thought ‘really...what at my age?’. 

Well I did and in the first month 

I had 1.4k views, then I gave a 

presentation on CPDme, 2500 

attended on the night of which 

500+downloaded my book there 

and then, in the first week it had 

another 1000+views. 

So going from sharing to sixty 

ambulance staff on to sharing with 

thousands worldwide just blows 

me away! 

I have now agreed to give my 

talk at the EMSUK Conference in 

October. 

I now have my own life saving 

website - 

www.steveevans-mbe.co.uk 

And of course people can see my 

presentation on 

www.ambulanceukonline.com 

Steve Evans MBE 

Retired Paramedic Training 

Manager ex NWAS. 

Scholarship 

for exceptional 

nurse studying 

with London’s Air 

Ambulance Charity 

Ahead of International Women’s 

Day 2021 on Monday 8th March, 

London’s Air Ambulance Charity 

celebrated the achievements 

of Mariana Campilho, a nurse 

undertaking the Masters degree 

in Pre-Hospital Medicine. 


Mariana, who lives in East London, 

has been granted a prestigious 

award through The Company of 

Nurses Scholarship Programme 

to assist with her studies on the 

Masters (MSc) degree run by 

the Institute of Pre-Hospital Care 

(IoPHC), a department within 

with London’s Air Ambulance 

Charity. The course is delivered 

in partnership with Barts & The 

London School of Medicine 

& Dentistry and Queen Mary 

University of London (QMUL). 

The scholarship recognises 

the outstanding contribution 

Mariana has made to the nursing 

profession and represents an 

investment in the future of patient 

care, as she embarks on the 

three-year course. 

54 


NEWSLINE 

Mariana Campilho said: 

“I applied for The Company of 

Nurses Scholarship as I wanted 

the opportunity of being able to 

study in an area that I am truly 

passionate about, and to be one 

of the first nurses doing so made 

it even more special. 

“I was delighted and felt it 

an enormous privilege to be 

awarded the Scholarship, 

especially as I am aware of 

the high standard of the other 

applicants. 

“I am looking forward to being 

able to study along different 

professionals all equally 

dedicated to the area of 

prehospital care and to be able 

to learn from different experts in 

the field.” 

Mariana began the MSc course 

in January 2021, the first cohort 

to include nurses, and she 

also works as a Nurse in the 

Emergency Department at The 

Royal London Hospital. Before 

this Mariana completed a 

secondment with the Physician 

Response Unit (PRU), a 

community emergency medicine 

service which attends emergency 

calls in people’s homes. The PRU 

is a joint collaboration between 

London’s Air Ambulance, the 

London Ambulance Service (LAS) 

and Barts Health NHS Trust. The 

PRU responds to 999 calls, taking 

the Emergency Department to 

the patient, and reduces risks for 

vulnerable patients by helping 

them avoid a trip to hospital. 

Brenda Griffiths, Chair of the 

Company of Nurses Charitable 

Trust said: 

“The Trustees are delighted to 

be able to support London’s 

Air Ambulance and this MSc 

programme with a Company of 

Nurses Scholarship. Emergency 

out of hospital care is critical, 

specialist and complex. 

“We know that Mariana and those 

in her care will benefit greatly and 

look forward to hearing all about it 

as the course progresses “. 

The Company of Nurses, which 

aims to raise standards of nursing 

care, encourage health and 

wellbeing, and save lives, has 

offered the scholarship through 

it’s Ann Campbell RBNA Memorial 

Fund which supports a student 

with the payment of their tuition 

fees for the MSc in Pre-Hospital 

Medicine over the next three 

years. 

The part-time MSc in Pre-Hospital 

Medicine was launched in 2019 

through the Charity’s IoPHC 

and is specifically for doctors, 

paramedics and nurses who 

practice in emergency settings, 

particularly in pre-hospital 

medicine, and who wish to 

become better practitioners in 

their roles. 

Now recruiting for its third year, 

the MSc is a practice-based 

course taught in face to face 

‘teaching pods’, helping to nurture 

and develop talent and continue 

leading the way in pre-hospital 

emergency medicine education. 

No Duff UK – The 

small company 

making a big noise in 

the charity world 

By Dave Leigh. 

No Duff UK is a Not for Profit 

Community Interest Company 

based in the North West UK 

but with contacts and members 

all over the country. They 

provide help and support to 

serving and former members 

of the NHS, HM Forces, Police, 

Emergency Services, Prison 

Service and Animal Welfare. 

They are unique because they 

do not differentiate between 

the Services but take the view 

that if you have served the 

Country or the Community 

you are part of one big family. 

Tragically, suicides from both 

serving and former members 

of these organisations are on 

the rise and No Duff UK’s aim 

is to try and prevent this. 

There is often limited help 

on offer from within those 

organisations when serving and 

virtually none when retired. 

No Duff UK are also great 

believers in the phrase “ You 

don’t heal in the place where you 

got sick”. 

What does ‘No Duff’ mean? No 

Duff is a military term meaning 

“This is not a drill” which 

captures exactly the mind-set of 

the company when it comes to 

Mental Health. 

No Duff UK was founded in 2019 

by CEO Dean Owen. Dean has 

served in the Military, Prison 

Service, Police and RSPCA. 

He was medically retired from 

the Police with PTSD after a 

serious injury on duty. In 2020 

he realised that this was too 

big a job for one person and 

approached the other Directors 

to help out, bringing in a 

broad spectrum of service and 

experience from all the services. 

What did No Duff UK achieve 

in 2020? 

They have a private peer support 

group on Facebook over 1,000 

strong which is a designated 

‘safe place’ to seek help and 

support, and even have a bit of a 

rant if needed. 

They’ve also expanded onto 

Twitter where they have 1200 

followers. 

They have helped 31 members 

get into therapy. 

They have a contract with a 

North West Police Force to 

provide therapy to their staff. 

They have prevented 4 suicides. 

They have assisted a Veteran 

who was stuck in Europe, without 

funds, to get back home. 

They have assisted at least 

4 Veterans into full time 

employment. 

They have established a successful 

health and fitness group on 

Facebook, as physical health goes 

hand in hand with mental health, 

that has over 500 members. 

What are their plans for 2021? 

In 2021 No Duff UK hope to 

establish a Headquarters in the 

North West of England that will 

house treatment and therapy 

rooms, conference facilities and 

classroom facilities and a fitness 

suite. 

They also hope to establish a 

Community Garden Project as 

gardening has also been shown 

to help people with their Mental 

Health. 

It is also their intention to establish 

a support group for family 

members of serving or former 

members of the services. 

They may be small now but are 

ambitious enough to say that they 

intend to expand to cover the 

whole of the country. 

No Duff UK is funded exclusively 

by donations, whatever funding 

grants they are successful with 

and by fundraising events, which 

has had to take a back seat due 

to Covid restrictions. 

No Duff UK can be found at :- 

www.no-duff.com 

https://www.instagram.com/ 

noduffuk/ 

https://mobile.twitter.com/ 

noduff1 



55

NEWSLINE 

LAS 

London Ambulance 

Service supports 

National Day of 

Reflection 

Colleagues at London 

Ambulance Service joined a 

national minute’s silence on 

Tuesday 23 March 2021 to 

remember those who died 

during the pandemic and show 

support for the bereaved. 

Staff and volunteers remembered 

colleagues lost to COVID-19, as 

well as those who died across the 

NHS, the UK and the world, as 

part of a national day of reflection. 

The event, spearheaded by 

end-of-life charity Marie Curie, 

falls on the anniversary of the 

UK going into the first national 

lockdown. The charity estimates 

around three million people in the 

UK have been bereaved since 

the pandemic began – today is a 

moment to grieve and celebrate 

the lives of those lost. 

Chief Executive Garrett Emmerson 

said: 

“This last year has had a terrible 

toll on London and the country 

as a whole, and it is important 

to pause for a moment of quiet 

reflection. 

“Today we remember London 

Ambulance Service, NHS and 

care colleagues who lost their 

lives to the virus and acknowledge 

the incredible efforts and 

sacrifices made by staff and 

volunteers to care for patients in 

the darkest days of the pandemic. 

“We also stand in support of 

families of those who died and 

offer our condolences to all those 

who are grieving.” 

At the peak of the pandemic our 

call handlers were answering twice 

as many 999 and three times as 

many 111 calls a day from people 

needing help across London. 


established a Wellbeing Hub 

in response to the pandemic 

which provides a single point of 

access to all the new services 

and initiatives designed to 

support the mental and physical 

health of staff and volunteers. 

Resources include access to 

counselling, wellbeing workshops 

and seminars and expanded peer 

support networks. 

The Service is also offering 

practical support such as testing 

and vaccination programmes, 

financial advice, refreshments 

including packs for those 

isolating, and rostering that allows 

people to take much-needed 

annual leave as operational 

pressures ease. 

Katy Crichton, Head of Wellbeing 

at London Ambulance Service, 

said: 

“This past year has been incredibly 

traumatic for the whole country. 

Our staff and volunteers have had 

to help more people than at any 

time in our history, whilst, in many 

cases, sadly having to deal with 

the loss of their own relatives, 

friends and colleagues. 

“Reflection is a vital part of the 

grieving process. That’s why 

we are marking today and why 


is working round the clock to 

provide emotional and practical 

support to teams so they can 

continue to care for London.” 

The National Day of Reflection 

was developed by end of life 

charity Marie Curie and aims 

to give the nation a moment to 

remember, grieve and celebrate 

everyone who has died during 

this time and show support for our 

families, friends and colleagues 

who are grieving. 

Marie Curie Chief Executive 

Matthew Reed said: 

“We need to mark the huge 

amount of loss we’ve seen 

this year and show support for 

everyone who has been bereaved 

in the most challenging of 

circumstances. 

“We cannot simply stand by 

and not recognise the effects 

the pandemic has had on the 

bereaved. We know people are 

in shock, confused, upset, angry 

and unable to process what has 

happened.” 

London Ambulance Service is 

building a permanent memorial 

garden at its headquarters in 

Waterloo to remember all those 

who have died during their service. 

SCAS 

South Central 

Ambulance Charity 

receives £410k 

funding boost to 

deliver pioneering 

training programmes 

South Central Ambulance 

Charity has been allocated 

£410k by NHS Charities 

Together to help support 

a number of innovative 

projects across South Central 

Ambulance Service (SCAS). 


These include pioneering training 

programmes for Community 

First Responders (CFRs) and 

care home staff, as well as 

17 new LUCAS 3 mechanical 

cardiopulmonary resuscitation 

(CPR) devices. 

The funding forms part of a 

wider £7 million investment 

by NHS Charities Together in 

ambulance services across the 

UK announced today. 

It means South Central 

Ambulance Charity can embark 

56 


NEWSLINE 

on a project that will see SCAS training programme, six-monthly 

become the first ambulance trust refresher programme and commit 

in the UK to train an enhanced to at least 20 hours a month, 

group of CFRs to perform 

usually covering a five-mile radius 

diagnostic tests including 

from their home or workplace. 

electrocardiograms (ECGs) and 

urinalysis to support accurate and These additional skills will enable 

early diagnosis. 

enhanced CFRs to provide more 

detailed information on patients’ 

CFRs are members of the public conditions earlier and help 

trained to support the ambulance SCAS clinicians decide on the 

service primarily by responding most appropriate care pathway 

to medical emergencies and for them, whether in hospital 

sometimes providing lifesaving or onward referral within the 

first aid to patients before 

community. 

paramedics arrive. 

In addition to this project, the 

They also assist with ongoing funding will enable SCAS to 

patient care at the scene 

provide support, training and 

and attend more than 30,000 equipment for care home staff 

incidents every year. They are to enable them to better assess 

funded solely by South Central when an ambulance response 

Ambulance Charity, which 

may be required. 

provides equipment, training and 

is responsible for the vehicle fleet. LUCAS CPR devices deliver 

continuous, safe and effective 

There are currently more than chest compressions which 

1,200 CFRs and Co-Responders maintain blood circulation at a 

– these are members of the fire regular level while freeing up 

service, police, coastguard and paramedics to focus on other 

military who volunteer in their critical aspects of care while 

spare time – at SCAS covering a patient is transferred in an 

Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, ambulance. The purchase of the 

Hampshire and Oxfordshire. new LUCAS 3 models will mean 

the Trust can upgrade from its 

They undertake an initial five-day current LUCAS 2 equipment. 

Community First Responders with lifting cushions 

Vanessa Casey, Chief Executive of South Central Ambulance Charity 

South Central Ambulance Charity exciting developments across 

will also use the cash injection SCAS including our pioneering 

to provide emergency lifting projects to train an enhanced 

cushions to CFRs to enable group of CFRs to carry out 

early assistance to patients who additional diagnostic tests and 

have experienced non-injury falls to support, train and equip care 

and support the implementation home staff to respond to the 

of GoodSAM, an app which health needs of their residents so 

automatically triggers alerts to they can better understand when 

nearby cardiac arrests to whoever an ambulance response would be 

is signed on. 

required.” 

This means they can attend and Dr John Black, Medical Director 

provide immediate life support at SCAS, said: “We are extremely 

while an ambulance is en route pleased to benefit from this 

and the app identifies the location generous national funding as it 

of the nearest defibrillator. 

will enable us to further develop a 

The funds will also support number of areas of work across 

widespread training in out-ofhospital 

cardiac arrest. 

and ensure our CFRs are among 

SCAS to enhance patient care 

the most advanced in the country. 

“We are delighted to have 

secured this grant for the charity “It will also help with the addition 

which has been awarded thanks of more advanced LUCAS 3 

to the exceptional support from devices which can provide high 

the public and NHS Charities quality chest compressions to 

Together. It will enable us to patients in need of prolonged 

increase the support we are resuscitation while freeing up 

able to give to our CFRs through paramedics to carry out other 

life-saving equipment and 

essential patient care during a 

further training to develop the transfer to hospital.” 

programme, as well as supporting 

our staff with important equipment Ellie Orton, Chief Executive of 

such as LUCAS devices,” said NHS Charities Together, added: 

Vanessa Casey, Chief Executive of “At this time of immense challenge 

South Central Ambulance Charity. for the NHS we are delighted that 

we can make a real difference 

Nicola Dunbar, Head of 

and ultimately help save lives by 

Community Engagement and funding amazing CFR volunteers 

Training at SCAS, said: “These and additional support for South 

funds will go towards some really Central Ambulance Service.” 



57

NEWSLINE 

EEAST 

East of England 

Ambulance staff 

members team up to 

take on the world’s 

fastest zipline to 

raise money for The 

Ambulance Staff 

Charity (TASC) 

Ben Hawkins and Chloe 

Spencer from the East of 

England Ambulance Service 

have joined forces to battle 

their own fear of heights and 

raise vital funds for the national 

charity dedicated to supporting 

the UK’s ambulance community. 

On the 17th July 2021, Ben, an 

Emergency Dispatcher from 

Peterborough, and Chloe, a Senior 

Emergency Medical Technician 

and Student Paramedic from 

March in Cambridgeshire, will be 

travelling 1.5km at a breath-taking 

100mph on Zip World’s Velocity 2 

zipline at Penrhyn Slate Quarry in 

North Wales. 

Chloe said: 

“Both of us are recovering from 

previous mental illness and have 

partnered up to raise money for 

something we share a passion 

about - our green family. This 

is our opportunity to raise as 

much money as possible to 

support them either mentally 

with psychological support, 

physically through physio or with 

financial support. TASC is the 

charity supporting thousands of 

ambulance staff, like us, who rely 

on the support and generosity of 

wonderful people, like you.” 

Ben and Chloe are raising 

funds online via JustGiving: 

https://www.justgiving.com/ 

fundraising/chloe-bentasc 

The team have already raised 

over £1,600, having smashed 

their original goal of £800, and are 

now aiming to raise over £2,000 

which can help TASC provide an 

extra 33 hours of counselling or 

39 sessions of physiotherapy for 

people injured in the line of duty. 

Ben said: 

“TASC has helped 100s with both 

their physical and mental health. 

We are so passionate about 

making a change and TASC are 

the charity allowing this to happen. 

So many of our colleagues are 

feeling the stress of the pandemic 

and feeling unwell mentally so it’s 

important they can go to TASC for 

support so we can continue to help 

patients who need us. We ask that 

if you can’t donate then you share 

our page so that someone who 

may be able to support us can. 

Thank you so much to everyone 

who’s supported us so far.” 

Launched in 2015, TASC is the 

national charity dedicated to 

caring for those who care for us 

and provides mental, physical, 

and financial wellbeing support 

and advice to help ensure the 

UK’s lifesaving ambulance 

community is strong, healthy, and 

ready to be there for us when we 

need them. As well as serving 

and retired ambulance staff, the 

charity also supports the family 

members of ambulance staff, 

Paramedic Science students from 

year two onwards and current 

ambulance service volunteers 

such as Community First 

Responders (CFRs). 


Jasmin Rana, TASC’s Director of 

Income Generation and Supporter 

Engagement, said: 

“We’re so grateful that Chloe and 

Ben are battling their fears and 

taking on this epic challenge to 

support our cause and raise vital 

funds for TASC. Ambulance staff 

have one of the most stressful 

jobs in the UK, and the continuing 

and long-term impacts of 

Coronavirus are making their job 

that much harder. At TASC, we’re 

seeing demand for our services 

growing year-on-year and this is 

rapidly increasing as our lifesaving 

ambulance staff experience the 

mental, physical and financial 

impacts of the pandemic. With the 

support of people like Chloe and 

Ben, TASC can continue to be 

there for the UK’s lifesavers when 

they’re struggling and need a bit 

of help themselves.” 

58 


NEWSLINE 

EEAST 

Cuddle pockets 

launched at EEAST 

The East of England Ambulance 

Service (EEAST) has introduced 

bespoke, handmade cuddle 

pockets so that stillborn babies 

can be transported to hospital 

with compassion and sensitivity. 

The knitted pockets are designed 

for babies who are less than 24 

weeks, who are placed inside 

and the ribbons tied together. 

The baby’s parents are then 

encouraged to hold their baby 

during the journey. 

EEAST is one of the first 

ambulance services in the country 

to begin using the pockets, which 

have been donated by non-profit 

organisation Cuddles UK. Each is 

unique and has been handmade 

by volunteer knitters who are 

coordinated by Cuddles UK using 

Facebook. 

The initiative has been introduced 

following feedback from patients 

and crews, and aims to make 

sure bereaved parents and 

their babies are treated with the 

highest levels of dignity. 

Daimon Wheddon, clinical lead for 

the project, said: “We know just 

how difficult the loss of a baby 

can be for both the parents and 

for the crews who attend, and 

wanted to do what we could to 

make the journey to hospital less 

distressing for everyone. 

Jenni McClagish, patient safety 

specialist with EEAST, with a 

cuddle pocket 

“Thankfully, cuddle pockets will 

not be needed very often. But 

when they are, they can make 

such a difference for the patient 

and our crews. 

“We are very grateful to Cuddles 

UK for supporting us, and to the 

members of our staff who given 

up their time to knit these unique 

pockets.” 

Feedback from crews who have 

used the pockets so far has been 

positive. One staff member said: 

“The cuddle pockets will go a 

long way in helping make this 

experience less traumatising for 

patients as well as crews.” 

A second added: “It made a huge 

difference, especially for the mum 

who had something unique for 

her baby to rest in on the way to 

hospital. Cuddle pockets give 

us a dignified way to transport 

babies who are born too early.” 

Wendy Matthews OBE, regional 

chief midwife, said: “Treating any 

pregnancy loss in a dignified 

and compassionate way is so 

vital to improving the experience 

of families when they suffer a 

tragedy. 

“The cuddle pockets also allow 

the ambulance crew dealing 

with these situations to give care 

in a sensitive way. For parents, 

knowing that their babies are 

being treated with the upmost 

respect is so important.” 

Cuddle pockets are available on 

all 700 of EEAST’s ambulances 

and ambulance officer vehicles. 

Air Ambulance - 

Charity 

Solutions UK have offered the 21 

air ambulance charities access 

to our ambulance specific online 

training for their crews. We 

are hoping that the crews take 

advantage of the offer to use our 

Moving and Handling, Conflict 

Resolution and Advanced 

Stroke Life Support training. Our 

donation provides each learner 

with an annual licence, so if you 

are an eligible crew member 

you should take advantage of 

the offer before the end of 2021. 

We want to support as many of 

the charities and their crews as 

possible. 

Courses offered: 

Our ‘Moving People 2021’ 

online course content meets 

and exceeds the requirements 

of all Skills for Health, Wales, 

and all Scotland Manual 

Handling passport schemes. On 

completion the theory learnt will 

equip learners with the relevant 

theoretical knowledge and skills 

as required by FutureQuals AAP 

in respect of patient handling. 

Packed full of filmed scenarios 

to problem solve it is action 

packed learning online. It has 

proven to test the knowledge 

and skills of very experienced 

staff as well. Visit www. 

myeskils.com/solutionsonline/ 

movingpeople2020demo/ to 

access a free demo – Moving 

People bespoke to the Ambulance 

Community 2021 

Our new 2021 version of the 

online Conflict Resolution 

course has been specifically 

developed with and for the 

ambulance community. On 

successful completion of this 

course its participants will 

receive a Solutions certificate 

of achievement. Again, packed 

full of filmed scenarios to risk 

assess it is action packed on line 

learning. Visit www.myeskils. 

com/solutionsonline/CRT%20 

for%20the%20Ambulance%20 

Community%202021%20 

Demo/ to access a free demo – 

Conflict Resolution training for the 

ambulance community 2021 

Our unique ASLS – Advanced 

Stroke Life Support is focused 

on the MEND (Miami Emergency 

Neurological Deficit) exam which 

is conducted after the FAST test 

and reduces the chances of 

missing a stroke. The course was 

developed in conjunction with 

the University of Miami, and the 

NHS! Our training certificates are 

endorsed by the UK Stroke Forum 

and the University of Miami. 

Visit http://www.myeskils.com/ 

solutionsonline/Stroke_Demo/ 

to access a free demo – ASLS 

About Air Ambulance UK: 

The charities they support and 

have welcomed access to our 

training as a donation are; 

Midlands Air Ambulance, Great 

Western Air Ambulance, Essex 

& Herts Air Ambulance, North 

West Air Ambulance, London 

Air Ambulance, Hampshire & 

The Isle of Wight Air Ambulance, 

Cornwall Air Ambulance, 

Devon Air Ambulance, Dorset 

& Somerset Air Ambulance, 

Wales Air Ambulance, Wiltshire 

Air Ambulance, Thames Air 

Ambulance, Kent, Surrey 

& Sussex Air Ambulance, 

MAGPAS Air Ambulance, The Air 

Ambulance Service, Lincolnshire 

& Nottinghamshire Air Ambulance, 

Yorkshire Air Ambulance, Air 

Ambulance Northern Ireland, 

Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance, 

Great North Air Ambulance & East 

Anglian Air Ambulance 

There are 21 air ambulance 

charities who operate 40 

helicopters alongside their 

amazing crews. Each day 

air ambulances teams are 

dispatched to over 70 missions 

collectively, most of which are 

funded by voluntary donations 

and partnerships. 

If you would like to donate to the 

charity, please visit: 

www.airambulancesuk.org/ 

donate-now 

If you work for any of the above 

charities and want to take 

advantage and access the free 

courses, please contact: 

mandiepearson@ 

solutionstraining.co.uk 

If you require any further details 

about Solutions Training or to view 

more information on the courses 

we are offering, please visit: 

www.solutionstraining.co.uk 



59

IN PERSON 

News 

Strategic new appointments 

at Midlands Air Ambulance 

Charity 

As part of Midlands Air Ambulance Charity’s 

commitment to continuous improvement, 

the service has appointed Dr Adam Low 

and Dr Ryan O’Leary and reappointed Dr 

Malcolm Russell MBE as governance leads 

of the pre-hospital emergency medical 

service. 

Governance leads are selected every two 

years, and their responsibilities include the 

provision of clinical and management support 

to the critical care paramedic and medic-led 

services, ensuring excellent standards in 

clinical practice, staff development, education 

and clinical governance. 

Each lead will take on projects and additional 

responsibilities to further develop Midlands 

Air Ambulance Charity’s pre-hospital care 

provision, including mentoring, facilitating 

case reviews, providing senior on call support 

to pre-hospital colleagues and supporting 

the appointment of new team members. In 

addition, they will support with the delivery 

of the clinical training suite and simulation 

room at the charity’s new airbase and charity 

headquarters, which will commence build work 

this spring in Shropshire. 

Dr Malcolm Russell MBE, medical director 

of the UK’s International Search and Rescue 

team, UK’s representative to the United 

Dr Adam Low 

Nations International Search and Rescue 

Advisory Group Medical Working Group, said: 

“I’ve been one of the clinical governance leads 

for Midlands Air Ambulance Charity for nearly 

four years now. It’s a fantastic organisation 

and we are privileged to be able to provide 

life-changing care to our patients. We can 

always improve though, so I felt compelled to 

re-apply for the position again and feel greatly 

honoured that I’ve been awarded one of the 

new posts.” 

Dr Adam Low, consultant anaesthetist at 

University Hospital Birmingham, Queen 

Elizabeth, said: “I am looking forward to 

joining Mark, Malcolm and Ryan as one of the 

governance leads for Midlands Air Ambulance 

Charity and MERIT. The role will include leading 

on well-established governance streams 

such as organising our monthly governance 

and educational meetings, undertaking peer 

review and appraisal of colleagues to support 

them achieve their pre-hospital aspirations 

and develop new and exciting clinical and 

educational initiatives. I look forward to a busy 

and undoubtedly productive two years.” 

Dr Ryan O’Leary, intensive care medicine 

consultant and anaesthetist at Hereford 

County Hospital, said: “I am delighted to be 

appointed as a governance lead for Midlands 

Air Ambulance Charity. This is a new role for 

me, and I look forward to playing my part in 

allowing our exceptionally talented team to 

grow and reach their full potential.” 

Hanna Sebright, chief executive for Midlands 

Air Ambulance Charity, added: “The collective 

experience and knowledge of the governance 

leads puts our organisation in a very strong 

position. Their support will ensure we remain 

at the forefront of emergency pre-hospital 

patient care, offering the very best treatment 

to patients in critical need of advanced clinical 

care.” 

For more information on Midlands Air 

Ambulance Charity’s clinical team, visit 

midlandsairambulance.com/clinical and 

follow the organisation on social media. 

SECAmb News 

SECAmb appoints new Nonexecutive 

Director 

South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS 

Foundation Trust (SECAmb) has welcomed 

a new Independent Non-Executive Director. 


Dr Malcolm Russell Dr Ryan O’Leary Dr Subo Shanmuganathan 

60 


IN PERSON 

Dr Subo Shanmuganathan took up her 

position on the Trust’s Board of Directors on1 

March 2021 and will serve a three-year term 

of office. 

Subo has a varied career in complex 

education, clinical and regulatory executive 

roles and has held several non-executive roles. 

She brings extensive knowledge and experience 

of strategic business change, organisational 

development, education and training and 

transformation programmes to deliver commercial 

revenue, gained in both the charitable and public 

sectors. Her PhD is in Clinical Immunovirology 

from Imperial College London. 

Chair of SECAmb, David Astley, said: “We 

are really pleased that Subo is joining 

SECAmb at this time. Her experience in 

people management and processes will 

provide relevant experience and challenge to 

support the continuing improvement of our HR 

provision to SECAmb colleagues. Subo also 

brings a wealth of knowledge about education, 

training and professional regulation which 

will add value to the Board. I look forward to 

welcoming Subo to our March Board meeting.” 

As well as undertaking her Board duties, 

Subo will be joining the Trust’s Finance and 

Investment Committee and Quality and Patient 

Safety Committee. 

Subo said: “I am delighted to be joining 

SECAmb knowing that our staff are doing 

such an important job for our communities, 

particularly during the pandemic. I am excited 

to be involved in the great work of the Trust 

and am really looking forward to meeting all 

the staff and governors.” 

SECAmb’s Board meetings are held in 

public, and are observable in real time online 

currently, using Microsoft Teams. For meeting 

papers and a link to the Board meetings, visit 

our website: Trust Board meeting dates and 

papers | NHS South East Coast Ambulance 

Service (www.secamb.nhs.uk). 

SECAmb News 

SECAmb thanks retiring 

Director of Operations 


Foundation Trust (SECAmb) is bidding a 

fond farewell to its Executive Director of 

Joe Garcia 

Operations, Joe Garcia, who is retiring 

after more than 35 years in the ambulance 

service at the end of this month. 

SECAmb’s current Deputy Director of 

Operations, Emma Williams, will fill the 

role on an interim basis until a formal 

appointment process is completed. 

Joe, who received an MBE in this year’s New 

Year’s Honours, first joined the then East 

Sussex Ambulance Service in 1985, following 

a short career in the Royal Marines. 

Initially serving as an ambulance technician 

in Eastbourne, Joe went on to complete his 

paramedic training and undertake a number 

of different roles including time spent on the 

front-line, as a control room manager and in 

clinical education. 

In 2004 Joe moved to work for West 

Midlands Ambulance Service and in 2010 

his experience saw him appointed to take 

forward the national Ambulance Radio 

Programme, led by the Department of 

Health. 

2013 saw him return to direct involvement 

in front-line service as Associate Director 

of Operations at East Midlands Ambulance 

Service prior to him joining SECAmb in late 

2016 as Interim Director of Operations – a 

position he was substantively appointed 

to in August 2017 – and from which he 

has overseen a significant period of 

improvement. The last 12 months has seen 

him play a pivotal role in the management 

of SECAmb’s operational response to 

COVID-19. 

SECAmb Chief Executive Officer Philip Astle 

said: “On behalf of everyone at SECAmb 

and in the wider ambulance community, I 

would like to thank Joe for his commitment 

and dedication over such a long period. His 

inclusion in this year’s New Year’s Honours list 

shows the high regard in which he is held. 

“I would particularly like to thank him for 

steering our operations through what has been 

an extremely challenging 12 months. I wish 

him all the very best for the future and a very 

happy retirement.” 

Joe said: “My journey through my career within 

the ambulance service has taught me so much 

about people and the full spectrum of what 

life has to offer. I have been privileged to work 

alongside some absolutely fantastic people 

over the years and I will cherish the times 

spent working in a such a close-knit team. 

“My days at SECAmb have been the pinnacle 

of my career. I feel so privileged to have been 

able to serve an amazing group of colleagues 

and help us all navigate our way through 

many improvements, and most recently during 

the tumultuous experience of a worldwide 

pandemic. 

“The greatest asset we possess is our people. 

Every part of every team, be that back office or 

front line, have a part to play in bringing relief 

to a medical or traumatic crisis for our patients 

and I will forever be proud to have been a part 

of Team SECAmb in providing that service.” 

SECAmb News 

SECAmb Chair reappointed 

for further three-year term 


Foundation Trust, (SECAmb), is pleased to 

announce the reappointment of its Chair, 

David Astley, for a second three-year term. 

David’s reappointment was formally approved 

by the Trust’s Council of Governors at its most 

recent meeting on 4 March. 

Welcoming David’s appointment, SECAmb 

Chief Executive, Philip Astle said: “I am 

delighted to be able to continue to have David 

leading the SECAmb Board. His combination 

of experience, local knowledge and his huge 

desire to help patients make him a fantastic 

asset to the Trust and I am really pleased that 


Do you have anything you would like to add or include? Please contact us and let us know. 

61

IN PERSON 

we will have the benefit of his leadership for 

another three years.” 

David was appointed as SECAmb Chair 

in September 2018 and lives in Kings Hill, 

Kent. He has had a long career in the NHS 

and was awarded an O.B.E in 2006. He 

has held a number of senior roles in the 

NHS including Chief Executive of East Kent 

University Hospitals NHS Trust between 

1999 and 2006 and Chief Executive of St 

George’s Healthcare NHS Trust between 

2006 and 2011. 

David then held a senior position with 

the Hamad Medical Corporation in Qatar 

before retiring in 2015 and taking up a nonexecutive 

position with Liverpool Women’s 

Hospital. He is also a Board member of the 

Michael Yoakley Charity based in Margate. 

David added: “I am delighted to have been 

reappointed as SECAmb’s Chair. This year 

has, of course, been extremely difficult 

for staff and I am incredibly proud of the 

way everyone has risen to the challenges 

presented by the pandemic. 

“I look forward to continuing to implement 

the Trust’s strategy, working closely with 

our system partners to improve patient care 

and to steering the Trust Board through the 

changes set out in the recent White Paper.” 

David Astley 

COMPANY NEWS 


Adapter+ - Safely 

transfer patients in 

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The COVID-19 pandemic has 

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62 


EAT - SLEEP- FISH 

A FISHERMAN’S DREAM 

If coarse fishing in a tranquil setting with excellent accommodation, friendly 

hosts and, a country pub serving highly rated food, is your idea of an ideal 

break, then Docklow Pools in Herefordshire is the place you are looking for. 

Set in a picturesque valley Docklow Pools and the fisherman’s arms are both 

worth a visit and here’s the reasons why:- 

LAKES & RIVER FISHING 

Docklow Pools is home to 11 picturesque fishing lakes for all types of angler. 

Whether its pole fishing for silvers, rod fishing for carp or trying to hook into 

a giant on the Major Bill, we are sure you will find what you are looking for at 

Docklow Pools. We are also proud to offer fishing on the river Wye. 

FISHING HOLIDAY 

ACCOMMODATION 

At Docklow Pools, we offer a vast array of great standard accommodation 

& facilities to ensure you have the perfect getaway. 

Our fishing accommodation is a high standard & extends from the Premier 

properties such as the log cabins to the popular barn houses and farmhouses. 

For Fishermen parties we suggest either Farm House Bed & Breakfast or 

Fishermen lodges (named after trees like Elm, Oak etc). All the properties 

available have fully equipped kitchens – with gas cookers, microwaves and 

fridges all part of some of the cottages’ furniture. 

We are aware every customer has different tastes, which is why the fishing 

holiday cottages are a mixture of both traditional and modern furnishings. 

One, two & Three bedrooms available. Bungalow or cottage style. With or 

without pet options. By the lakes or Courtyard you choose. 

Each property has its own private parking & tackle store/lock up. You can 

check the availability of our fishing accommodations online. Please note all 

fishing accommodation are for adults only (including caravans) river Teme and 

river Lugg along several stretches that we have now acquired. 

FISHERMANS ARMS 

Whether you’re staying with us on holiday or local to Docklow, the Fishermans 

Arms welcomes you to join us 7 days a week during summer for fantastic 

homemade food at great value. 

Our summer opening is every morning and every evening, with a Sunday 

lunch carvery which has a wonderful reputation across the county. 

All our meats are from a local butcher. Food is homemade including delicious 

dishes, pies, chips, pudding and desserts. 

It means that we are more than just a fishery. People who come on holiday 

love the fact that they can eat well, in friendly traditional surroundings, at great 

value prices without actually leaving the Docklow estate. 

Sundays are normally a busy day because of strong local reputation so bookings 

are always suggested. 01568 760 256 or email info@docklowpools.com 

The Fishermans Arms has both a restaurant a pub grub evening menu and an 

impressive breakfast brunch and lunch menu too. 

Docklow Pools - Fishing Holidays - Leominster - Herefordshire - 01568 760256 info@docklowpools.com

The Number 1 in the 

German Resuscitation Register 

In more than 60% of all resuscitation cases, the 

Mönchengladbach Fire Department achieved a positive result. 

This is one of the highest ROSC rates in Germany. 

But how exactly do they achieve this success? 

The Mönchengladbach Fire Brigade team measures 

the quality of its resuscitations in real time, thus has 

the information necessary to save more lives. 

In addition, all resuscitation cases are subsequently 

analysed in detail with regard to the depth of the 

compression, frequency, relief of the chest and 

handoff times during resuscitation and used for 

training and further education measures. 

Here you can see how the Mönchengladbach Fire 

Department measures the quality of their resuscitation 

and what they have achieved as a result: 

www.zoll.com/moenchengladbach 

© 2020 ZOLL Medical Corporation. All rights reserved. ZOLL is a registered trademark of ZOLL Medical 

Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. All other brands are the property of their respective 

owners.

Ambulance UK April 2021

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