David Richards case study

I'm in for the fantastic mentorship.

I have been an employee of Welsh Ambulance Service (WAST) for 16 years as a paramedic but having achieved my MSc in Advanced Practice, I now work as an Advanced Paramedic Practitioner. I am fortunate to be part of a team of 10 Advanced Paramedic Practitioners (APPs) involved in a two-year pilot between the WAST and Hywel Dda University Health Board (HDUHB) supporting the Out-of-Hours GP service. As an APP in the model, I am predominantly out visiting patients in their homes but I also see appropriate patients in the treatment centres and we are developing the skill of telephone advice. All of this is supported by fantastic mentorship from the GPs.

I first heard about the opportunities in Urgent Primary Care from my relationship with other GPs while studying for my Masters. I wanted to be an Advanced Paramedic Practitioner and thought working in Urgent Primary Care would be a good opportunity to progress and work with clinicians of varying backgrounds and experiences. I wasn’t wrong as the mentorship and the opportunities have been invaluable. The relationships I have built with other clinicians in Urgent Primary Care, and the opportunity to be mentored by them, has helped me in my day job. The whole team is brilliant to be part of.

Being part of a multidisciplinary team is great, and I enjoy the variety of the work and the feeling of making a real difference to patients who need urgent care.