The first cohorts of Senior Paramedics from the Welsh Ambulance Service have graduated from the University of Wales Trinity Saint David.
The Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust recently introduced a new role of Senior Paramedic, specifically focused on the frontline clinical leadership of its Paramedics and Emergency Medical Technicians, and UWTSD’s Wales Academy for Professional Practice and Applied Research (WAPPAR) devised a leadership development programme to support it.
This is a growing scheme that plans to develop more Senior Paramedics each year. A need was identified for a consistent, coherent and standardised leadership development programme to support staff in these roles. The resulting award is a Postgraduate Certificate in Professional Practice (Leadership in Emergency Services).
The role of Senior Paramedic is a new initiative within WAST, and seeks to develop clinical leadership roles to support the service in its ambitions to be more clinically led and to further develop an operationally effective service that is fit for the future. It is a position that is intended to enhance the degree of frontline clinical leadership within the organisation with the prime intention of developing and improving practice as well as transform the means by which it shapes the clinicians to deliver services.
Andy Swinburn, the Trust’s Director of Paramedicine said:
“ At a time when emergency ambulance services are under significant pressure, the need to change and transform care delivery is greater than ever. As such, ensuring that our clinicians are supported by active and enthusiastic leaders, who possess a sound understanding of leadership principles and the ability to contextualise these into practice is more important than ever.
“Working with our partners in UWTSD and more specifically our link Julie Crossman, we have worked together to deliver a programme that gives our Senior Paramedic cohort this robust skill set, setting them up to support our transformation journey. Notable within this programme is its flexible approach to learning. Each cohort requires sufficient flex to accommodate learners working in a pressured environment, where shift work and competing demands require unconventional education delivery to meet these needs. Furthermore, each cohort is a mix of academic abilities, with learners attending from a variety of existing experiences and background education, so a conventional approach to learners’ academic journey was never going to be successful.
“However, working with Julie and UWTSD has given us a programme that addresses all these requirements and has contributed to the successful roll out of our teams across Wales.”
This programme was introduced initially at the height of the pandemic, and since then these cohorts have faced numerous challenges within the workplace; juggling family life, adapting to new leadership roles at the most difficult time in NHS’ history as well as undertaking their academic work.
After completing the Postgraduate Certificate, students will be able to apply for the Chartered Manager Award within the WAPPAR team at the University.
Senior Lecturer Julie Crossman said:
“All students have enhanced and developed their leadership skills since undertaking their role as Senior Paramedics and embarking on the leadership development programme. For some graduating, this was their first foray into academic work, although they have many years of experience within the service. However, it is to their credit that the students successfully managed to balance the requirements of their professional role, their family commitments and academic work to successfully achieve the PGCert in Professional Practice.
“ The programme focused on applying learning to professional practice and sought to cultivate transformational leaders, engaging the workforce to meet the challenges faced in terms of improvements in clinical practice. As part of their final module, students completed a work-based change project with a view to introduce meaningful change into their areas of responsibility. It has been a real honour to support the Senior Paramedics during their programme of study and I commend each of them for their commitment, dedication and willingness to embrace the learning undertaken. ”
