Home visits handed over to paramedics

PARAMEDICS are carrying out GP home visits in Wigtownshire as part of an innovative partnership.

The Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) and NHS Dumfries and Galloway hope the new initiative will relieve GP workload and increase resilience in the primary care workforce, to allow GPs to focus on patients attending surgeries, while paramedics visit them at home.

Established as a pilot in 2018, it resulted in a 45 per cent reduction in GP time spent on home visits within just six weeks. Building on this success, the partnership has expanded, with 16 paramedics and three bank workers now supporting 19 GP practices across Dumfries and Galloway.

One of those is paramedic Kristin Milligan, who covers the Rhins of Galloway, going from Stranraer to Glenluce and out as far as the Mull of Galloway. She can undertake ten home visits per day and can travel up to 100 miles on a busy day.

Kristin said: “I work on a rotational model where, for approximately one week in four, I work with the GP practice undertaking home visits. I absolutely love it. The role has enhanced my paramedic skills and it’s enabled all the paramedics involved to strengthen our relationships with the GP teams. This really helps when we are back out on the road in an ambulance as we now know the local primary care team we are interacting with.”

GP Dr Charlie Dunnett, from the Wigtownshire, Galloway Hills Medical Group in Newton Stewart, said: “This partnership has made a real difference to both patients and GP practices. By having paramedics carry out home visits, we can focus on patients attending the surgery while knowing those who need care at home are being seen promptly.

“It’s improved capacity in our practices, strengthened teamwork across primary care, and provided timely support for patients receiving home visits.”

Meanwhile, a case study undertaken by the National Centre for Remote and Rural Health & Care has highlighted several benefits of the model, including reducing travel for vulnerable patients who receive visits from the paramedics, providing more capacity in primary care settings, and aiming to reduce numbers of hospital admissions.