Berwick community paramedic scheme made permanent

Berwick community paramedics Paul Mills, Wayne McKay and Julie Cowell with Ruth Corbett (clinical operations manager for NEAS in north Northumberland) and Paul Liversidge.

The initiative, run by North East Ambulance Service (NEAS), involves a small team of paramedics responding to calls in and around the Berwick area as well as offering additional support to the local NHS services.

What initially began as a three-month pilot in July 2019 has continued to be extended since then as permanent funding was sought.

NEAS has revealed that during this time, the scheme has led to a reduction in the response time by the ambulance service for life-threatening cases – halving the average Category One wait times to 6.02 minutes.

In addition, more than 5,800 patients have been seen and treated at home by paramedics, freeing up GP services, fewer patients have had to be transferred from Berwick to the Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital in Cramlington and Borders General Hospital, and there has been extra support for care homes in and around Berwick during evenings and weekends.

Following its success, the NHS Northumberland Clinical Commissioning Group has agreed to commission the service permanently.

The team of three paramedics work in and around the Berwick area on rota from 9am to 9pm seven days a week.

They use a rapid response vehicle and work with the primary care teams at Well Close Medical Group, and Union Brae and Norham Practice. They also work within Berwick Infirmary Minor Injuries Unit out of hours and at weekends.

Paul Liversidge, chief operating officer at NEAS, said: “Two and a half years and a pandemic later, and our community paramedic team have not only been able to improve the experience of the patients they see first-hand, but the knock-on effect of them being there frees up both GPs and our ambulance crews to see more patients in need.

“It’s fantastic to see how well thought of the team is within the community and we’re also now looking at how we might replicate the service in other areas of the region.

“We're very proud to be able to provide this service and I look forward to seeing how the project continues to grow in the coming years.”

Following the successful funding of the scheme, the team will receive additional training to further support their work in the community – allowing them to respond to more jobs.

Dr Stephen Doherty, partner at Well Close Medical Group, said: “As a practice, we were delighted to hear that this project had been made a permanent fixture within the local community.

“The community paramedics are essential in providing urgent care when needed, as well as supporting local surgeries, and we look forward to continuing to work closely with them.”

Anna Wood, Modern Matron at Berwick Infirmary, said: “Staff at the infirmary have welcomed the opportunity to build relationships with the community paramedics, so it is good news that the scheme will continue.

“When available, the paramedics have supported our teams during busy periods, which in turn has allowed them to learn more about how our Minor Injuries Unit works and to boost their knowledge.”