UK ambulance changes mean more treated at home
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Up to a million people calling emergency services could be treated at home rather than at hospital under a reorganisation of England’s ambulance service, Health Minister Lord Warner said on Thursday.
“We are going to develop and enhance the care that is available in our communities from the NHS by using ambulance services to take healthcare to the patient, to become a mobile healthcare system,” he said in a statement.
Patients with urgent but not life-threatening conditions will be treated in their homes rather than having to going to hospital accident and emergency departments.
Ambulance staff will perform routine assessments of patients with long-term conditions in their homes, avoiding unnecessary trips to hospital.
The NHS will recruit more of a new breed of paramedic - the “Emergency Care Practitioner” - who will be able to respond to emergency calls to treat minor injuries and illnesses.
At the same time the government will at least halve the number of ambulance trusts - the bodies that run local ambulance services - while keeping the same number of staff and vehicles.
The changes follow a strategic review of ambulance services in England conducted by London Ambulance Service Chief Executive Peter Bradley.
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