18-T17 - HCPC Approved Paramedic Programme

Tender description

The East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EEAST) covers the six counties which make up the East of England - Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk and provides a range of services, but is best known for the 999 emergency service. Our dedicated and skilled staff work 365 days a year, 24 hours a day to make sure patients receive the best possible care. Our diverse area is spread over the 7,500 square miles and contains a mix of rural, coastal and urban areas - from Watford to Wisbech and Cromer Canvey Island. Our services are tailored to meet the needs of each community's differing environmental and medical needs. The Trust employs around 4,000 staff and 1,000 volunteers to deal with over 1,000,000 calls every year. Trust staff and volunteers are trained and experienced in caring for patients in a variety of situations, ranging from life-threatening illness and injury to less serious situations such as falls in the home or patients with minor injuries. In addition, the Trust handles more than 500,000 non-emergency patient journeys to and from routine hospital appointments. EEAST require up to 24 IHCD Emergency Medical Technicians (or equivalent) to become Level 6 Paramedic Clinicians via a Paramedic course that must start before the end of March 2019. The course provider must be HCPC approved to deliver a programme to existing IHCD Emergency Medical Technicians (or equivalent) leading to Paramedic registration on a full time basis. This can be through any awarding body but HCPC approval must be assured. The course must be over a period of no more than one year and deliver a Level 6 Paramedic clinician to EEAST who will be capable of entering the newly qualified Paramedic pathway and operating at a Paramedic scope in EEAST, using all relevant EEAST pathways. The contract duration will be for three (3) years with the option to extend for two (2) further periods of up to twelve (12) months. This will cover the initial requirement outlined in the Specification in Annex B2 of Section B and also any subsequent courses required at a later date during the initial term and any subsequent extension periods.