Catherine Hofton

Qualifications

IHCD ambulance paramedic, BSc (Hons) Emergency Care, MSc Advanced Clinical Practice

Specialisms

Paramedic ACP, works in Acute Respiratory Hub, GP practice and Out of Hours

Introduction

I began my career in the ambulance service in 1997, progressing through the ranks from transporting non-urgent patients to qualifying as a paramedic via the original IHCD qualification route in 2000. I then went on to obtain a BSc (Hons) Emergency Care in 2007 which enabled me to work as one of the first Emergency Care Practitioners in Gloucestershire providing a 'see and treat' role as an alternative to conveying patients to A&E. Over the years I have been very fortunate to have been part of the evolvement of the paramedic role to that of an autonomous practitioner.  

I left the Ambulance Service in 2014 to widen my scope of practice and help develop a new incentive of a multidisciplinary team specialising in providing treatment to patients in their own home to avoid hospital admission. The team consisted of advanced paramedics, nurses, physiotherapists and occupational therapists. The team very quickly became successful in saving a vast amount of hospital admissions by delivering treatments such as IV antibiotics and IV fluids in the patient's own home.  As my career has progressed I have moved into a position in primary care where I now work as an Advanced Clinical Practitioner in a GP surgery. I also work in Out of Hours, an Acute Respiratory Clinic and Urgent Care Centres.  I have been an independent prescriber since legislation changed in 2018 to allow paramedics to prescribe and I hold a Master's Degree in Advanced Clinical Practice. 

Working in Emergency, Urgent and Primary care throughout the years has enabled me to obtain a wide skill-set and a broad knowledge of a vast range of clinical presentations in all age groups from emergency 999 calls to identifying and differentiating viral and bacterial infections, recognising sepsis and treating life threatening emergencies to providing care for patients at the end of their life. 

My current day-to-day role is dealing with urgent presentations to the GP surgery as the duty clinician, this can range from mental health crises to febrile children. I provide support to the practice nursing and dispensary teams and local residential/nursing homes. I also deal with medication queries and test results and provide medication reviews and deal with complex care. My extensive experience has given me an explicit understanding of the standards expected of paramedics moving away from traditional ambulance roles into multidisciplinary teams and GP surgeries.

I accept instructions from both claimant and defendant solicitors and insurers. I have undergone formal training in the medico-legal process and am fully aware of my responsibilities under Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) pertaining to expert witnesses.