The postgraduate paramedic: meeting the demands of an evolving profession

The services that paramedics provide have changed, and will continue to change and develop, but what remains constant is the fact that the patient is at the centre of all that is done. The role has evolved radically and is developing at a rapid pace, moving from the emphasis on transporting the person to an accident and emergency department to a focus on critical clinical decision-making, treating and managing, and appropriate referral if required.

These changes in service provision are driven by a number of factors within and outside of the profession. Epidemiological data that tells us that the population is ageing, the great technological advances that are occurring, the complexities of illness, changes in skill mix, public expectations and performing under austere economic conditions. The profession itself has also been instrumental as a catalyst for change; for example, the College of Paramedics published its third edition of the Paramedic Curriculum Guidance last year, emphasising the need to equip paramedics for the challenges that health care delivery in the 21^st century will present. The third edition of the Paramedic Post-Registration Career Framework is anticipated to be released in May. Paramedic development has the potential to bring opportunity for service development and also benefits for the individual concerning career progression. Development is triumvirate in nature with the patient at the centre, the service, the paramedic, the profession.