The South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT) Specialist Practitioner in Urgent and Emergency Care (SPUEC) team provides 24/7 clinical advice and support to ambulance crews across Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire (BNSSG).
Contacting the SPUEC team
SWASFT ambulance crews should contact the SPUEC team for clinical advice, support or a patient visit before approaching external organisations such as BrisDoc.
BrisDoc clinicians receiving a call from an ambulance crew should encourage them to use SWASFT’s internal clinical support first, before arranging a BrisDoc treatment centre appointment or home visit.
Contact details are available to all SWASFT ambulance clinicians. This includes a mobile number that crews can use to contact the visiting SPUEC clinician directly.
SPUEC team cover
The team comprises 16 experienced clinicians and operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Typical cover includes:
- One clinician answering advice calls
- One visiting clinician
- One advanced clinical practitioner (ACP) staffing SWASFT’s urgent care desk
Staffing levels can vary. The team may not always be able to provide an immediate visit, but a senior SWASFT clinician will be available to give crews clinical advice.
Clinical experience
The team includes:
- Two ACPs who are qualified prescribers, educated to master’s degree level and highly experienced in primary, out-of-hours and urgent care
- Fourteen SPUECs with postgraduate diploma-level qualifications and experience in primary and urgent care
- Two SPUECs who are also qualified non-medical prescribers
SPUEC medicines, assessments and treatments
SPUEC clinicians carry the same formulary as the BrisDoc visiting service. Their clinical capabilities include:
- Advanced assessment of all body systems
- Ear, nose and throat examinations
- Urinalysis and human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) pregnancy testing
- Urinary catheterisation, including first-time catheter insertion
- Wound assessment and management, including suturing and stapling
- Nasal cautery
- Access to Recommended Summary Plan for Emergency Care and Treatment (ReSPECT) forms
Additional ACP capabilities
The team’s ACPs can provide more advanced clinical advice and treatment. Their additional capabilities include:
- Magnesium administration for asthma and seizures associated with pre-eclampsia
- Droperidol administration for acute behavioural disturbance and rapid tranquillisation
- Decisions about stopping resuscitation in circumstances outside standard ambulance guidelines
- Advanced clinical advice and guidance beyond the SPUEC scope of practice