Ambulance staff experiences and perceptions of medical emergencies in care homes in the East Midlands, United Kingdom: a qualitative interview study

Care home residents often experience medical emergencies requiring ambulance attendance that may lead to potentially avoidable hospitalization. We aimed to explore ambulance staff experiences of medical emergencies in care homes. We used a qualitative design and purposive sampling to recruit frontline ambulance staff who had attended medical emergencies in care homes in England, United Kingdom. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews (conducted by telephone or online) and were analysed using thematic analysis. We interviewed 15 ambulance staff members and developed four analytical themes, capturing what ambulance staff perceived facilitated or impeded high quality care being provided during emergencies in care homes. Participants felt that effective communication was important to ensure a good care experience and discussed barriers to communications, such as language difficulties or disagreements during decision-making. They highlighted the need for better ongoing care in care homes, further training for ambulance and care staff, and that the current service pressures were a barrier to providing high quality emergency care. This study highlights the main challenges and facilitators that ambulance staff are faced with when dealing with emergencies in care homes. The findings will help inform the development and evaluation of interventions to improve outcomes and experiences of emergencies in care homes.