Towards research literacy in the NHS ambulance services: an outsider's perspective

No, I'm not a paramedic—I'm not even a clinician. I did my undergraduate degree in business and my masters in public health—arguably unrelated fields. But I have been researching the NHS ambulance services for just over 2 years now, and my experience as an ‘outsider’ looking in is a fascinating one.

The literature around the ambulance services is rapidly increasing. However, at present, the lack of research around topics like patient safety means that a majority of the available research is based on data from primary care settings, like hospitals, where the context is remarkably different (Altman et al, 2004; Rust et al, 2008; Fisher et al, 2015). While the ambulance services grow their research profile and continue pairing with universities, implementing roles like the research paramedic, this problem is bound to be temporary (McClelland, 2013).