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The Physician Response Unit
STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 2 - OUTSTANDING CARE PHYSICIAN RESPONSE UNIT
The Physician Response Unit (PRU) is a collaboration between London’s Air Ambulance, London Ambulance Service NHS Trust, Barts Health NHS Trust and local CCGs. It is staffed by a senior emergency medicine doctor and an ambulance clinician and carries advanced medication, equipment and treatments usually only found in hospital. The service responds to 999 calls, treating patients in their community who would otherwise have often required an ambulance transfer to hospital.
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The PRU has pioneered the development of ‘Community Emergency Medicine’. This concept is still in its infancy and its future development presents an opportunity to address some of the current challenges faced by frontline staff working in Urgent & Emergency Care across the nation. The ethos is simple: to deliver high quality emergency care at the right time and place for patients.
The PRU has been working hard to provide lifesaving support during the COVID-19 pandemic. It has expanded its working hours and added a second team in April 2020, to help free up hospital beds. In the financial year 2019/2020, the PRU:
Treated 1,736 patients in the community, of which 69% were managed in the community rather than being conveyed by ambulance to an Emergency Department.
Delivered the first Community Emergency Medicine Conference in October 2019, in cooperation with The Institute of Pre-Hospital Care at London’s Air Ambulance.
The first PRU Conference: ‘Breaking down barriers
and innovating in integrated emergency care’ The programme aimed to stimulate conversation and idea-generation by bringing together experts in emergency and pre-hospital care. We discussed the past, present and future of care delivery to those in urgent need. We heard from those influential in policy making and driving change in ambulance services and emergency departments and those who have implemented pre-hospital services that aim to deliver emergency medical care in the community. We looked at specific opportunities to impact on quality of care for our patients and we had the privilege of hearing from a patient’s relative, who was managed by our own Physician Response Unit.
