Current Challenges in the Ambulance Service – A Four Nations Perspective
Date: Wednesday 24th May 2023
Continuing with our ‘Tackling the Future Together’ theme, this plenary session brings key representatives from all the four home nations together. Each representative will take the time to outline the individual challenges they face within the Ambulance Sector in their nation. This will be followed by a panel discussion on the issues raised and the opportunities they present for the future. There will also be an opportunity for the audience to pose questions to the panel.
The Speakers:
Andy Swinburn, Director of Paramedicine, Welsh Ambulance Service, Wales
Dave Bywater, Lead Consultant Paramedic, Scottish Ambulance Service, Scotland
Rosie Byrne, Director of Operations, Northern Ireland Ambulance Service
John Martin, Chief Paramedic and Quality Officer/Deputy Chief Executive for the London Ambulance Service, England
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Dave Bywater
Dave has worked with the Scottish Ambulance Service since1996, qualifying as a Paramedic in 2001.He has experience working in remote and rural as well as urban areas across Scotland. He has had previous roles as a Paramedic Practitioner, Special Operations Paramedic, Clinical Advisor and Practice placement Educator. As the Consultant Paramedic for Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest (OHCA), Dave assisted in the delivery of the Scottish Ambulance services commitments to the Scotland OHCA strategy, representing the OHCA team at local, national, and international levels. He is also responsible for Paediatric care within SAS. Dave is also a reservist with the Scotland Charity Air Ambulance service. A member of BASICS Scotland for many years. During that time, he has been an active voluntary responder in rural Scotland. An experienced member of the BASICS Scotland education faculty, Dave directs as well as teaches Pre-Hospital Emergency Care, Pre-hospital paediatric life support and major incident management courses. When not working, he is mostly chasing his next whisky…
Andy Swinburn
Andy joined the then Lancashire Ambulance Service in 1991 as a part-time Patient Transport Service Ambulance Person. Progressing his career to Education and Training Manager in 2002. It was during this year that he graduated from Manchester Metropolitan University with a BA (Hons) in Practitioner Leadership. Following the formation of the Northwest Ambulance Service in 2006, Andy was successful in obtaining a role as Professional Development Manager, leading the development of a region-wide clinical leadership structure including the roles of Senior, Advanced and Consultant Paramedic roles. During this period he obtained his MSc in Advanced Clinical Practice from the University of Bolton. Following a period as Northwest England representative at the Governing Council of the College of Paramedics, Andy was awarded a Fellowship of the College as recognition for his services to the profession. In 2013, Andy moved to the East Midlands Ambulance Service as a Consultant Paramedic an onto the Welsh Ambulance Service in May 2017 as Assistant Director of Paramedicine before taking up his current role of Director of Paramedicine in December 2021. In the 2021 Queens Birthday Honours, Andy was awarded the Queens Ambulance Medal for his work with the UK’s ambulance services. Andy has a specific interest in developing aspirational roles within the profession which allow for organisations to improve patient care through service redesign, inspire clinicians to develop and ensure diversity within a registrant’s careers. I started working for Greater Manchester Ambulance Service in 2003, now North West Ambulance Service and trained as a IHCD ambulance technician and in 2006 became a paramedic. In 2014 I became the chain of survival coordinator, a British Heart Foundation funded post which focused on improving the chain of survival. The role involved working with communities and promoting CPR and improved access to public access defibrillators. My proudest moment was when I spoke at a parliamentary event with Andy Burnham talking about the importance of CPR and AEDs. In 2019 I became a community specialist paramedic for the Trafford area of Greater Manchester. The role is varied and involves responding to emergencies with a view to clinically assessing patients in their home and safely referring them to more appropriate services rather than the emergency department. During the pandemic I worked at the Nightingale Hospital for a period of time which was a positive experience of health care professional working together. The role has also given me the opportunity to support the implementation of pathways for patients that require support within their own home and social prescribing, present in schools, community groups about the ambulance service and promote the varied roles now available to paramedics. I have just completed my masters in advanced clinical practice and this has developed my interest in the care of the older adult, frailty, falls and delirium. I love working with older adults, their age, conditions and history make each incident so interesting, taking a more holistic approach to patient care is such a satisfying part of job.
Rosie Byrne
Rosie Byrne is a Registered General Nurse with over 25 years nursing experience as a practitioner and at various management levels within cardiology and Unscheduled Care and Emergency Departments between 1990 and 2014. In January 2014 she took up the post of Unscheduled Care Programme Manager within the Regional Health and Social Care Board. Rosie was appointed as the Unscheduled Care Assistant Director Lead at the HSC Board in June 2016 and remained in that post working with a range of stakeholders to support Provider 5 Trusts, The Northern Ireland Ambulance Trust. This included regional work with the Department of Health in relation to improvement of the unscheduled care patient pathway for unscheduled care services until 24 March 2020 when she joined the ambulance service. Following a period as Assistant Director of Operations she took up the position of NIAS Director of Operations in October 2020.
John Martin
John started his journey with the College of Paramedics as a member of the education sub-committee, before becoming the council representative for the East of England region and then the vice-chair. He has been the Chair of Board (which changed to President with the restructure in 2021) since 2017. John is passionate about the development of the paramedic profession, education, leadership and use of research. In 2008 he led a national review of the paramedic curriculum guidance and was a paramedic advisor to the London Olympic games in 2012. John holds a Doctorate in Health from the University of Bath, having researched variation in ambulance utilisation by populations. In 2014 he undertook an executive leadership programme with the NHS Leadership Academy and Harvard University in America. He has visited both Nigeria and South Africa to understand international health care practice including paramedicine. John is currently the Chief Paramedic and Quality Officer / Deputy Chief Executive for the London Ambulance Service. Prior to this he held director posts in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS FT, a community and mental health provider and Cambridge University Hospitals as Director of Integrated Care. He spent most of his career within the East of England Ambulance Service where he held posts as a paramedic, educator, consultant paramedic and director.