Spotlight On An Expert - Ruth Adamek

Many of our experts work as case managers, independent therapists, in education, for private companies, for social services, and for the NHS. The ‘Spotlight on an Expert’ section allows our experts to get to know each other a little better and provides an excellent opportunity for experts to network, both quantum and liability. As a case manager, it is often difficult to find a suitable therapist in a particular area of the country who carries out private OT, SLT, or physiotherapy.

This spotlight, therefore, could highlight one of our experts who may be suitable to undertake private therapy for one of your clients. If you are interested in case management, for example, this could assist with giving you a little more insight into the role and maybe who you could contact to discuss alternative work practices or about becoming a case manager. It is an opportunity for individual experts to share their additional work roles outside of Somek and to network. If you wish to be in a future spotlight, then email Rachael Jeffery at admin@somek.com

This month our expert is… Ruth Adamek, Paramedic Expert

My first degree was in Sports Therapy, which brought me interesting opportunities of working with local rugby teams, the Rugby Sevens World Cup in Russia 2013, and a National Rugby League (NRL) team, Newcastle Knights, for an 18-month stint of living in Australia.

On returning home to England, I was looking for the security of employment rather than self-employed work, which led me to training to be a paramedic following on from my interest in acute injury management in sports therapy.

I started with West Midlands Ambulance Service as a student paramedic in 2016, which allowed me to train to be a paramedic whilst working as an emergency medical technician. I gained my HCPC paramedic registration in 2018 and continued to study alongside working to achieve a BSc in Pre-Hospital Emergency Care until 2020. I continued my role as a frontline paramedic within the trust following my registration.

Throughout the COVID pandemic, the pressures on the NHS increased significantly, and delays for ambulance responses were well documented in the media. My personal feelings are that this was not necessarily due to staff and vehicle shortages in the ambulance service, but due to the increase in call volume and lengthy hospital handover delays limiting availability of ambulance resources. I remember at its very worst attending to a patient who had been waiting for over 24 hours for an ambulance.

In August 2021, I was seconded to a newly developed Clinical Validation Team within the ambulance service. The role involves clinically assessing lower priority patients in order to explore suitability for alternative pathways, with a goal to reduce the number of inappropriate ambulance dispatches, ultimately to improve response times and patient experience.

When it became evident that the lower demand pre-pandemic would not return, this secondment became permanent and is my current role. I have also undertaken development within the department into clinical auditing, as well as clinical navigating, where cases are rapidly risk-assessed prior to clinical assessment.

I have always had an interest in patient safety, and have been looking for work that would provide me with some experience in this with the view to applying for a role within my trust in the future. This has led me into the world of expert witness work, an area which is not well known within the paramedic community, and I had not heard of it prior to a year ago.

I started with Somek and Associates in September 2024, following my return to part-time work with the ambulance service following maternity leave, looking for an improved work/life balance. Working part-time clinically allows me to be flexible to meet deadlines and the ability to take on multiple cases through Somek and Associates without imposing on my home life.

Within two months of completing my initial CPR medico-legal training, I found myself presenting on a webinar, alongside the 3 other paramedic expert witnesses with Somek and Associates, explaining our various roles within the profession to solicitors. This allowed me to explain my expertise and ability to take on cases at all areas of a patient’s contact with the ambulance service. Cases I have already undertaken include reporting on call handling for the 999/111 services, clinical telephone assessment, dispatch protocols including ambulance response categories and response times, as well as frontline ambulance cases.

I have also recently completed the Fitness to Practice training and hope to be able to be involved in cases of this nature in the near future for the HCPC.

I have found the support through my trainer has been invaluable in developing within the role and my confidence in report writing, and I feel that without this, a career in expert witness work would not be possible for me. I am thoroughly enjoying this new aspect of my work and feel it has had a positive impact on my own clinical practice. The need to work in line with up-to-date guidelines has been emphasised as I now see the scrutiny we can face from a litigation point of view as healthcare professionals.

Outside of work, I am a wife and a mother to an almost 2-year-old. I enjoy baking, in particular cakes, so much so that I made my own three-tier wedding cake. When I find the time to relax, I enjoy a good glass of wine (or two), but I am also obsessed with true crime podcasts; any time I’m in the car, at the gym or on a walk, that’s what I’m listening to!

If Ruth's account of how she became an expert witness has inspired you, head over to the recruitment pages on our website