Physiotherapist awarded College of Paramedics fellowship

^{Physiotherapist Anne Spaight who is head of clinical governance, audit & research at East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust}

The award, presented at the college’s national conference in Solihull on 9 May, recognised Ms Spaight’s contribution to the understanding of emergency care provided by ambulance teams.

Ms Spaight is head of clinical governance, audit and research at East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust, which on average receives a 999 call every 43 seconds, or 2,000 a day.

‘As a member of the trust staff for many, many years, to suddenly be recognised for work by another allied health profession is a tremendous honour,’ she said.

When Ms Spaight started at the trust, there had been very little research into pre-hospital care, she said. Over the years, Ms Spaight and her colleagues have developed research projects to improve care in a fast-paced, highly charged area of the NHS. She collaborates with other ambulance services and universities across the UK.

‘There is a desperate need for more research, because there has been so little and pre-hospital care has changed so much,’ Ms Spaight said.

‘It is now very much part of acute care, in life-saving situations such as cardiac arrest, and it is very much part of primary care.

‘Most of our calls are for patients who don’t have life threatening problems, but do have a need for care, such as older people who fall, and people with asthma attacks or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. But also time-critical situations with strokes and myocardial infarction.’