Emergency Care Practitioners
The Emergency Care Practitioner (ECP) is a generic role that combines extended nursing and
paramedic skills, arising out of a reconfiguration of emergency services and a series of changing
workforce initiatives such as nurse practitioners and paramedic practitioners. The ECP role is
intended to develop the skills of practitioners to enable them to be utilised across traditional
organisational boundaries, to carry out initial assessment of patient need, and to either treat or refer
to the appropriate care pathway
The role of the ECP is similar to that of a nurse practitioner but without prescribing rights, ECP do
however administer a range of drugs and TTA’s under PGD’s.
They are a band 6 practitioners working under East of England Ambulance Service Trust (EEAST)
scope of practice. The four east Suffolk ECPs are State Registered Paramedics and have 10 years of
experience in the ECP role.
The Emergency Care Practitioners attended the UEA ECP course which was at level III 60 credits,
followed by extensive practice placements (18 weeks) with named GP and surgeries along with
placements in EAU/SAU Mental Health & DN.
The ECP’s undertake annual Continuous Profession Development (CPD) within the trust and have
also attended M&K courses in End of Life, Telephone Triage, Minor Illness and Injury.
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The ECP role is designed to complement existing clinical teams
The ECP is able to make autonomous clinical decisions within their scope of practice
The ECP works across traditional boundaries of emergency care
The ECP role aims to have impact on the pathway and throughout the patient journey
Reduces A&E attendance’s by treating patients at the scene
Reduces waiting times in A&E and acute care as only those patients needing treatment in
this environment would attend hospital
Reduce waiting times in primary care by visiting patients for GPs in order to avoid hospital
admission
Reduce the number of handoffs by broadening roles by providing ECPs with the skills needed
to treat patients at the scene
Reduce referrals to acute hospitals by referring patients with social problems directly to
social services, rather than admitting to hospital
More appropriate use of skills of staff in other settings by appropriate streaming of patients
The Roving Admission Avoidance Car (RAAC) will work flexibly within their commissioned areas of
East and West Suffolk. The service will provide a responsive (aiming to attend to a patient within 2
hours), high quality, safe and appropriate service in a patients’ home. This service is intended for
patients with immediate primary care needs who require early assessment and work up with
dedicated clinician time. Skill sets on each RAAC may vary however the resource should be
approached to see if they can assist.
The ECP drug PGD documents are too large to embed in this document and are currently being
reviewed by the trust Pharmacist- I have listed the drugs below which provide an overview of the
medication administered and supplied by the ECP’s.
ECP Drug List
Administration and Supply of Aciclovir tablets
Administration and Supply of Amoxicillin capsules
Administration and Supply of Chloramphenicol Eye Ointment 1%
Administration and Supply of Chlorphenamine
Administration and Supply of Co-Amoxiclav capsules/suspension
Administration and Supply of Co-Codamol 30/500
Administration and Supply of Codeine Phosphate
Administration and Supply of Diazepam
Administration and Supply of Diclofenac or Naproxen
Administration and Supply of Doxycycline
Administration and Supply of Erythromicin
Administration and Supply of Flucloxacillin
Administration and Supply of Gaviscon®/ Gaviscon Advance®/Peptac®
Administration and Supply of Glycerin Suppositories
Administration and Supply of Hyoscine Butylbromide
Administration and Supply of Ibuprofen
Administration and Supply of Lactulose
Administration and Supply of Lansoprazole
Administration and Supply of Levonelle
Administration of Lidocaine (Lignocaine) 1% Plain
Administration and Supply of Loperamide
Administration and Supply of Metoclopramide
Administration and Supply of Metronidazole
Administration and Supply of Nitrofurantoin
Administration and Supply of Paracetamol
Administration and Supply of Prednisolone
Administration and Supply of Prochlorperazine
Administration and Supply of Rizatriptan or Zolmitripan
Administration and Supply of Salbutamol Inhaler
Administration and Supply of Trimethoprim