The College of Paramedics members-only CPD Hub contains a large collection of videos, podcasts and links to courses, all of which offer paramedics the opportunity to refresh and update their knowledge and explore new learning.
The College of Paramedics Diploma in Primary and Urgent Care (Dip PUC) is a professional examination designed to test the knowledge, skills and attitudes of experienced specialist practitioners in the field of primary and urgent care. The assessments are designed and planned to incorporate the range of possible patient presentations and the depth of knowledge required to carry out an effective and successful patient consultation. There is a focus on effective communication, recognition, diagnosis, management and appropriate referral and underpinning knowledge. The content of the exam includes unscheduled and emergency care presentations for all patient age groups from infants to the elderly.
The College of Paramedics Interactive Career Framework showcases the continuously evolving variety of roles that paramedics are undertaking in clinical practice, leadership and management, education and research. Contributors from a wide range of backgrounds share their experiences and professional development.
The Interactive Career Framework is structured around the College’s Post Registration Career Framework. The framework offers guidance for paramedics seeking to further their careers and for education providers offering CPD and qualification routes. The College of Paramedics continues to work to ensure that development routes in the key areas – clinical, educational, leadership and managerial, and research – are available and accessible for paramedics to continue to push the boundaries of practice in order to improve patient care and outcomes.
This guide published by NHS Fareham and Gosport CCG aims to support general practices to understand the role of paramedics, how they work, where they fit into general practice and their scope of practice.
The guide provides advice on:
- The current education and regularity framework for paramedics
- Employment and supervision
- Tools to help guide appraisal, career and salary progression
- Recommendations for continuing professional development – as a registered and regulated profession paramedics will have continuing professional development (CPD) requirements
The MSc Advanced Leadership for Professional Practice gives allied healthcare professionals the knowledge and skills they need to enhance their practice and prepare for leadership roles.
The course is aimed at registered professionals such as dieticians, audiologists, speech and language therapists, physiotherapists, paramedics and occupational therapists who seek continuing professional development opportunities.
You will study content that reflects professional, UK-wide government and international benchmarks for advanced level practice in health and social care, enhancing your suitability for revalidation.
This includes contemporary knowledge and skills in clinical and direct care practice, leadership and collaborative practice, improving quality and developing practice, and developing self and others.
You will learn how to develop efficient and ethical ways of working that offer a better quality of life and care by placing service users and carers at the centre of decision-making and service redesign.
Study this course full-time over one year or part-time for a maximum of five years depending on your other commitments. Learn from – and alongside – professionals from various fields of allied healthcare. Choose from a wide range of course units to suit your own interests.
Find out more about the course and apply online at https://www.manchester.ac.uk/study/masters/courses/list/12570/msc-advanced-leadership-for-professional-practice/course-details/
Paramedic eLearning is a suite of Continuing Professional Development modules for Paramedics working in a variety of settings. These online modules have been developed with the aim of providing ‘bite-sized’, interactive learning experiences that function well on a variety of mobile devices. ELearning for Paramedics is available for free for all NHS and military employees, all users of a .ac.uk address in Higher Education and all College of Paramedics Members. Learning is recorded on the eLearning for Healthcare Hub. NHS employees may also access the modules via their Electronic Staff Record.
The modules have had editorial support from expert Paramedics, with technical support from the eLearning of Healthcare Instructional Design team and steering group oversight from the Association of Ambulance Service Chief Executives, the National Educational Network for Ambulance Services, the College of Paramedics Educational Advisory Committee and the Forum for Higher Education in Paramedic Science.
Each module consists of up to ten individual sessions that should each take no more than 15 minutes to complete. Each session includes the same sections:
- Overview
- Case Studies
- Self-Assessment
- Summary
This platform provides a valuable element of your professional development and a means of refreshing and updating your knowledge.
Accessth Paramedic eLearning modules at https://www.e-lfh.org.uk/programmes/paramedics.
In recent years there has been a noticeable shift by paramedics from their traditional employment within ambulance services into urgent and primary care roles. Many are employed directly by GP practices using in-house bespoke models of clinical supervision, support and development.
This guide published by Brooke Petter Associates Ltd aims to support general practices to understand the role of paramedics and how they can become part of a multidisciplinary team with wider skill sets, enabling new and exciting models of care to develop.
Download Recruitment and development of paramedics in primary care
The guide outlines different models for employing paramedics within primary care, including:
- Paramedic undertakes patient home visits
- Paramedic assesses and manages patients presenting with acute illness and those with long-term conditions in same-day service clinics, including sessional work
- Paramedic conducts telephone consultations, triage and management of patients with common illnesses
Paramedics can undertake clinical roles including:
- Respond to medical emergencies within the practice.
- Take part in multidisciplinary case reviews.
- Address medicines concordance with patients / carers.
- Carry out face-to-face or telephone follow up consultations with patients.
- Signpost and refer patients to appropriate services and other healthcare professionals.
- Interpret and manage the results of blood test and x-Ray results.
Paramedics can also undertake audit and educational roles including:
- Conduct clinical audits as part of the practice multidisciplinary team.
- Implement, in conjunction with the practice team, systems such as antibiotic stewardship for monitoring medicines use.
- Contribute to the clinical education and revalidation of other healthcare professionals (e.g. Advanced, Intermediate and Basic Life Support).
- Provide input to quality improvement and practice development schemes.
This framework published by Health Education England provides standards for paramedics working in the primary and urgent care sectors. It helps define the role of paramedics within general practice and includes job descriptions, supervisory models and education curricula.
Download The paramedic specialist in primary and urgent care core capabilities framework
This framework describes advanced clinical practice for the paramedic specialist in primary and urgent care. This includes the knowledge, skills and behaviours to safely and effectively manage service users across the lifespan, recognising the need to be adaptable and working in often quite challenging situations, whilst retaining responsibility and accountability for those service users.
The framework:
- enables commissioners of services to specify minimum standards for clinical employment/placement of paramedic specialists
- enables managers to demonstrate that paramedic specialists working in primary and urgent care meet core capabilities or have developmental plans in place and clinical supervision to meet the nationally recognised framework
- helps education and training providers to focus on the key capabilities that learners need to achieve, which in turn will guide the content to be included and the use of appropriate learning and teaching strategies.
- sets out clear expectations for practitioners about the requirements of effective and safe extended practice roles and transferable skills
- can be used by service users and the public to understand the expectations of the paramedic workforce in primary and urgent care and to plan effectively for their own current and future care.
The framework comprises 14 Capabilities in four domains:
- Domain A. Person-Centred collaborative working
- Domain B. Investigation, assessment, advice and clinical impression or diagnosis
- Domain C. Condition management, treatment and prevention
- Domain D. Leadership and management, education and research