INFO
About this toolkit
Why a toolkit for paramedics in primary care?
This toolkit was developed to provide information to patients and members of the public, general practitioners and primary care teams, and for paramedics to outline key considerations regarding the role of paramedics in primary care.
This toolkit is underpinned by a mixture of scientific evidence and policy to provide information that is easier to access and understand for each group.
We hope to bring to the surface this important information and present it in a way that will be understandable, usable, and useful.
Where does the evidence come from?
Our principal data sources are research evidence.
An expert and patient steering committee, comprised of three experts in evidence synthesis/interpretation, GP and paramedic representatives, and nine representative members of the public patients, were involved in this process in two ways:
- Co-production of the strategy/approach to evidence collation and curation.
- Reviewing and advising on dilemmas and choices in evidence selection, interpretation and presentation.
The bulk of the work of evidence collation, curation and presentation was undertaken by the project lead (GE, see below).
How is the evidence kept up to date?
We aim to keep this toolkit up to date with latest research and policy relevant to this area. Dates of all research presented are included in the text or references on this site.
If a major piece of research is published which offers a key contribution to the information relevant to this toolkit, we will consider updating our content to include this.
Funding
This toolkit is free for users to access and carries no advertising.
Development was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Doctoral Research Fellowship Award (NIHR300681) and NHS Health Education England (now known as NHS Workforce, Training, and Education) (ref: 190121).
The views expressed on this website are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NIHR, NHS or the UK Department of Health and Social Care.
Who developed the toolkit?
This project was conceived and undertaken by Georgette Eaton, a clinical academic paramedic, who after many years of practice in primary care realised that her role as a paramedic required research evidence to understand how, why, to what extent and in what contents paramedics work in primary care.
The basic concept is that presenting information in a more transparent manner would assist GPs, primary care teams, patients, and fellow paramedics in comprehending the research evidence and policy that forms the foundation of the primary care paramedic role.
This toolkit is based on theory developed during a DPhil (PhD) project at the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford. Georgette’s clinical work is as a Consultant Paramedic in London.
The DPhil thesis describing the development of the theory supporting this toolkit is available online.
Academic supervisory team:
Professor Kamal R Mahtani
Dr Geoff Wong
Dr Stephanie Tierney
Project Author and Clinical Academic Paramedic
Dr Georgette Eaton
BSc(Hons) PGCert MSc DPhil(Oxon) MCPara FHEA
GP & Professor of Evidence Based Healthcare
Professor Kamal R Mahtani
BSc PhD MBBS PGDip FRCGP
Associate Professor of Primary Care
Dr Geoff Wong
MA MBBS MD(Res) FHEA FRCGP
Professor
Dr Stephanie Tierney
BA, MA, PhD
The design of the toolkit
Simplifying intricate information to enhance understanding and usability poses a significant challenge. To address this, we employed a participatory co-design approach, involving the intended users in the creation process right from the start. This approach stands in contrast to a “top-down” design method.
The key steps in the project were:
- Patient and Public Involvement from the outset of the project, to ensure that what we thought the information needs were aligned with patients’ priorities. Continued involvement through the Steering Committee.
- Consultation with stakeholders in the realms of primary care practice, including a patient participation group, representatives from professional bodies and key institutions involved in workforce policy development.
- Prototype development with professional web designers (Squirrel Power).
- Multiple cycles of user testing and small-scale redesign with stakeholder-users.
- Applying “content design” principles to textual content, involving collaborative “pair writing” editorial sessions with an academic editor and a user.
We hope this process has produced a genuinely useful “toolkit” in a world of information overload.
Acknowledgements
Grateful and genuine appreciation to everyone who generously devoted their time to contribute to this project.
Patient and public participation group: Cath Greehy, Deborah Hayman, Hameed Khan, Richard Mandunya, Mel Mcaulay, Francesco Palma, Deb Smith, and Ann Tomline.
Clinical stakeholder group: Representatives from the College of Paramedics, The Nuffield Trust, National Voices, and the Royal College of General Practitioners.
Toolkit design: Squirrel Power.
Video content: Emily Maldon.
Get In Touch
Please let us know what you think
- Did you find anything unclear or confusing?
- Do you have any comments/suggestions/criticisms about our toolkit?
- We welcome all feedback, both positive and negative, and would especially love to hear stories about how the toolkit has impacted your practice or experience in primary care
Please send us a comment using the form
- You do not have to enter your name or email address unless you want to
- We will try and respond by email to all enquiries within 2 weeks
Please use this form if you would like to get in touch with the toolkit author. Please note, you do not need to include your name or email address unless you want to.
Declarations of Interest
GE received a salary for the duration of this project funded by the NIHR Fellowship Award listed under the funding section above. She was Trustee for Research within the College of Paramedics between May 2021- May 2024. KRM, GW, and ST declare no conflicts of interest.
Publications
Publications are referenced throughout the toolkit.
Eaton, G (2024). Using realist approaches to explain and understand the optimal use of paramedics in primary care. [PhD thesis]. University of Oxford. http://dx.doi.org/10.5287/ora-jnbpqrey5