East Midlands Ambulance Service

Ambulance Service uses problem-based learning for frontline clinicians

East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) needed to communicate new guidance about assessing patients to its paramedics and other emergency clinicians. So they approached us for help with some face-to-face training.

Their brief

EMAS approached us to help develop and deliver face-to-face training to frontline staff, based on their On Scene Assessment and Management Guide. 

This relatively new document had been introduced to help frontline clinicians assess patients in a timely manner and direct them to appropriate care pathways or treat patients in their home. 

This training was part of EMAS’ continuing professional development opportunities, and staff who wished to take part would attend in their own time. Therefore, it was important to consider where sessions would take place, to make them as accessible as possible.

Our solution

We identified leading experts to work on this project. A practising doctor who is an expert in the field of urgent care helped us develop the training sessions and led them, supported by a University academic with experience of working in emergency settings.

We worked with EMAS to organise, help promote, and deliver a series of 3-hour sessions to a total of 118 members of staff over four months. 

Keen to encourage good attendance levels, we delivered some of the training sessions to smaller groups of staff at various EMAS sites. 

The participants were emergency care assistants, technicians, paramedics, emergency care practitioners and members of the Clinical Assessment Team. The sessions consisted of the following:

The results

“Through having a medical lead facilitator, attendees were able to explore and discuss their approaches to managing clinical risk. EMAS would certainly look at replicating this working arrangement with the University of Derby Corporate as they were responsive to our needs and provided a quality education package.”

Jackie Moore, Head of Workforce Development, East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust

Find out more

Learn more about work-based learning or contact us at businesshub@derby.ac.uk.

View East Midlands Ambulance Service website