An innovative project to improve the care people receive when they attend the emergency departments at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust has been hailed a huge success.

MTW was one of the first trusts in the south east of England to introduce Emergency Department Practitioners to work alongside doctors to treat and care for patients with more serious conditions.

EDPs, also known as Advanced Clinical Practitioners, are nurses and paramedics who have been highly trained to perform advanced clinical roles, treating and caring for patients independently, with supervision from consultant doctors.

They perform more advanced roles than nurses, such as diagnosing conditions, prescribing medicines and referring to specialist medical teams or discharging patients.

Nine EDPs currently make up the team at MTW, who work across both hospital sites. The project has been so successful there are plans to recruit and train additional staff.

John Clulow, Lead Emergency Practitioner, said: “MTW has been an innovator in introducing the use of EDPs into our emergency departments, being one of only a handful of trusts to lead the way in their implementation.

“EDPs undertake very similar tasks to junior doctors in the emergency departments, but provide a much more holistic approach in how they care for, and treat, patients.

“When a patient attends the emergency department, an EDP manages that patient autonomously, staying with them during their time in the emergency department, from diagnosis to treatment to either discharge, referral, or to admit them to an inpatient ward.

“This has enabled us to provide greater continuity of care for patients and better communicate with them, keeping them informed about the care and treatment they’re receiving. As a result patient satisfaction levels with the service they receive have really improved.

“Importantly, introducing these new roles has made a positive difference in how we develop and retain staff in our emergency departments, allowing practitioners to flex across departments and have a deeper understanding of how the organisation operates.”