The Future Role and Education of Paramedic Ambulance Service Personnel (Emerging Concepts)

From a subcommittee of The Joint Royal Colleges and Ambulance Liaison Committee and The Ambulance Service Association.

Members of the committee in alphabetical order :Dr Peter Baskett, Prof Douglas Chamberlain (Chairman), Dr Tom Clarke (Joint Hon Secretary), Mr Robert Crouch, Dr Neal Edwards, Mr Martin Flaherty, Mr Alan Howson, Mr Paul Leopold, Mr Andrew Marsden, Mr Don Page, Mr Gron Roberts (Joint Hon Secretary) Dr David Williams, Mr Michael Willis.

5th January 2000

This document has been drawn up by a subcommittee of the Joint Royal Colleges Ambulance Committee (JRCALC) and the Ambulance Service Association (ASA) after a series of broadly based discussions, soundings and meetings. It offers an overview of the emerging concepts in relation to paramedic education and training for the United Kingdom ambulance services of the future. These reflect the important strands of the Governments plans to modernise the National Health Service: improving quality, producing a flexible workforce, creating an ethos of multi-disciplinary team working, and ensuring continuing professional development. [1,2,3,4,5]

Within his guiding framework, the main consideration behind our proposals has been the need to optimise the clinical care and safety of patients in the pre-hospital arena. This must transcend concerns over professional boundaries. A secondary consideration the need to offer educational opportunities that will attract and retain individuals of high academic and practical ability which will in turn improve standards of care. These considerations have led to proposals for a new concept in paramedic education that will complement but not supercede current arrangements.