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The study is part of a newly funded NIHR Programme Grant for Applied Research called ‘Promoting Effective And Rapid Stroke Care’ (PEARS for short) that aims to improve the early management of people with stroke through better collaborative working between ambulance services and hospital services.
We will develop a more effective and efficient pre-hospital clinical assessment and transfer protocol for patients with suspected stroke by enhancing the role of paramedics. A pre-hospital CT scan request by paramedics, transfer of the patient directly to the scan room on arrival and their continued involvement of paramedics to help with the assessment process after the patient has arrived in hospital could reduce delays in thrombolysis treatment. Joint working across traditional service boundaries provides an opportunity for patients/carers to receive information about brain imaging and benefits and risks of thrombolysis at an earlier stage, which is important to support better informed consent and (where appropriate) engagement in decision making about treatment. There has been no rigorous examination of how paramedics can best contribute to this process. Although it is an NHS priority, there is a dearth of robust evidence tosupport development and implementation of paramedic acute stroke management apart from initial symptomrecognition and rapid transfer to hospital.
A first phase of workshops and interviews will explore the views and perspectives of ambulance, emergency department, stroke and radiological staff regarding an enhanced paramedic role in acute stroke care. A second phase will collect views from a team of volunteer paramedics and hospital staff who will test the enhanced assessment process under controlled conditions using a patient simulator (Simman 3G). This will further inform the development of the draft enhanced paramedic role, description of clinical processes and matching training materials for paramedics/hospital staff for use in
Start dates may differ between countries and research sites. The research team are responsible for keeping the information up-to-date.
The recruitment start and end dates are as follows:
Observational type: Qualitative;
You can take part if:
You may not be able to take part if:
Clincians who do not consent to participate.
Below are the locations for where you can take part in the trial. Please note that not all sites may be open.
The study is sponsored by THE NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE HOSPITALS NHS FOUNDATION TRUST and funded by NIHR Central Commissioning Facility (CCF) .
Your feedback is important to us. It will help us improve the quality of the study information on this site. Please answer both questions.
Read full details
for Trial ID: CPMS 17020
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