Mr Andrew Webber
Profiles

Mr Andrew Webber

Lecturer in Paramedic Practice (Education)

School of Health Professions (Faculty of Health and Human Sciences)

Role

Lecturer in Paramedic Practice

Andrew is primarily responsible for promoting high standards of learning for pre-registrant paramedic students at Plymouth University.  He is also the cohort lead for the current second year students.  His role includes developing students' practical skills (eg. physical exam techniques, resuscitation), alongside fostering other important skills (eg. clinical decision making, critiquing and utilising evidence to improve practice).  Andrew is also responsible for developing registrant paramedics who choose to undertake post-registration study at Plymouth University.

Qualifications

Background 

Andrew joined the NHS in 1999, and spent his early career working as an ambulance care assistant in Cornwall. After ambulance technician training, he transferred into Plymouth, and qualified as a paramedic in 2005.  Andrew later undertook post-registration training, and completed a BSc(Hons) in Emergency Care to develop extended clinical competencies.  With a commitment to developing others, and having completed an MSc in research, Andrew joined Plymouth University in 2013.

Andrew continues to practise in the NHS ambulance service; and, as a specialist paramedic in urgent/emergency care.  Andrew's extra-clinical interests include substance misuse & harm reduction; and, supporting colleagues to learn from their HCPC fitness to practise cases.

Summary of academic qualifications/achievements

2014 - PgCert Academic Practice, Plymouth University
2013 - MSc Health and Social Care Research (Distinction), University of Sheffield
2010 - BSc(Hons) Emergency Care (First class), University of Plymouth
2001 - CertHSC (Health & Social Care), Open University

Summary of relevant professional/vocational qualifications/achievements

2016 - SSTAR award nominations: outstanding personal tutor; inspirational teacher; innovative teaching methods
2015 - SSTAR award nominations: outstanding personal tutor; inspirational teacher; innovative teaching methods
2012 - Good Clinical Practice, NIHR/NHS
2008 - Mentorship (HEAB370), University of Plymouth
2005 - Ambulance paramedic, IHCD
2002 - Ambulance aid & emergency driving, IHCD
1999 - Ambulance care assistant & non-emergency driving, IHCD

Career summary

2013-now  -  Lecturer in paramedic practice (education), University of Plymouth  (1 FTE)
2012-now   -  Specialist paramedic (urgent/emergency care), SWAST (ZHC)
2005-2013  -  Paramedic, SWAST (1 FTE)
2001-2005  -  Ambulance technician, WAST/SWAST (1 FTE)
1999-2001  -  Ambulance care assistant, WAST (1 FTE)

Professional memberships

British Association for Immediate Care (BASICS) - Full member
College of Paramedics - Full member [MCPara]
Faculty of Prehospital Care (RCSEd) - Full member
Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) - Paramedic member
Higher Education Academy - Fellow member [FHEA]
Society for Education and Training (formerly the Institute for Learning) - Member [MSET]

Additional internal roles

Andrew is an active member of the School of Health Professions' Bachelor's Degree Ethics Subcommittee.
He is also a working with others on the Athena Swan self-assessment team, which aims to encourage the careers of women in science/technology, medicine and higher education/research.

External roles/affiliations

As well as being responsible for students studying at Plymouth University, Andrew has the following external commitments:
  • External-examiner for the University of East Anglia's (UEA) BSc(Hons) & DipHE Paramedic programmes from 2013-2017.
  • During 2015-16, Andrew was a member of the College of Paramedics' Postgraduate Curriculum Development Group.  This group worked to develop postgraduate curriculum guidance for UK paramedics.
  • Reviewer for Health and Care Research Wales (formally the National Institute for Social Care and Health Research: NISCHR).
  • External adviser for the major review of the Public Services portfolio at University of Wales Trinity Saint David during 2016.
  • External adviser for the PgCert Simulation in Health and Social Care at University of Salford in 2017.
  • Andrew has consulted for commercial UK ambulance services; with a particular focus upon improving medicines governance.
CPD summary for 2018

10/2018 - SWAST SME update (day 2)
09/2018 - SWAST SME update (day 1, inc. resus assessment)
08/2018 - GDPR update
07/2018 - Larry Lamb study day 2018
05/2018 - RCGP/PHE - Urinary tract infections: a primary care puzzle
04/2018 - NHS - Manual & patient handling (annual update)
04/2018 - NHS - In the line of fire (annual update)
04/2018 - NHS - Information governance (annual update)

CPD summary for 2017

11/2017 - CoD paramedic roundtable discussions
10/2017 - Mandatory update training (eLFH)
08/2017 - Laerdal manakin training
07/2017 - SWAST learning development review (11 Jul)
07/2017 - Larry Lamb study day 2017
04/2017 - NHS - Manual & patient handling (annual update)
04/2017 - NHS - In the line of fire (annual update)
03/2017 - Paramedic reviewer for NICE 'suspected neurological conditions' guidelines
02/2017 - External adviser for the PgCert Simulation in Health and Social Care at University of Salford
02/2017 - Mass Medicine Gathering Summit, Las Vegas

Clinical practice

2019 - From 2019, Andrew combines his academic role, with two days a week practising in primary care setting.
2018 - Practised ~450 hours to date.  Last practised November 2018.
2017 - Practised ~400 hours.
2016 - Practised ~500 hours.
2015 - Practised ~400 hours.
2014 - Practised ~250 hours.

Teaching interests

Teaching interests include developing paramedic students' clinical examination skills (eg. assessment of core body systems using the traditional medical models) and cognitive skills (eg. clinical decision making, analysis of ECGs). Also, keen to support traditional lecture teaching with alternative learning approaches, including: self-directed workbooks; technology assisted interactive sessions (eg. using Turning Point); outdoor scenarios; problem-based learning.


Module tutor for the following BSc(Hons) Paramedic Practitioner modules:

PARA101 Foundations of Pre-Hospital Patient Care
PARA102 Safe Systems of Work in Clinical Practice (module lead)
PARA201 Advanced Patient Care
PARA202 Pharmacology and Medicines Management (module lead)
PARA203 Acute Cardiac Care
SOHP501 Project Studies 1
PARA301 Refining Practitioner Skills for Patient Care
SOHP601 Project Studies 2

Module tutor for the following health-care CPD modules:

ADV702 Applying Evidence to Practice (paramedic link)

Research interests

Andrew acts as a research supervisor for undergraduate paramedic students; as well as supervising those undertaking the MSc Pre-hospital Critical Care Retrieval and Transfer.

The undergraduate projects have included:

  • a survey of students' preparedness to practise
  • an observational study comparing handling techniques to limit hip movement
  • inter-rater reliability of the FLACC pain score between student paramedics and student paediatric nurses
  • cross-over trail comparing the efficacy of commercial and ad hoc tourniquets to arrest low limb circulation

Andrew's personal research interests include:

Substance misuse and harm-reduction within the ambulance setting.

Ambulance staff often provide reactive care for patients suffering from drug related illnesses; yet they may less commonly provide proactive harm-reduction advice.  Andrew's particular interests relate to the use of naloxone (including bystander administered take-home naloxone) within the out-of-hospital setting, and the importance of appropriate referral for those suffering alcohol related disorders.

The role and remit of volunteer responders within ambulance services.

In an emergency, simple measures save lives (eg. basic resuscitation, early defibrillation).  Several ambulance services train and equip volunteer community co-responders to attend patients with life-threatening complaints prior to ambulance arrival, and these responders play a vital role in the chain of survival.  Andrew is interested in the effect that these volunteers have on measurable patient outcomes (ie. survival following cardiac arrest, response times).

2015

Naloxone for heroin overdose: an audit of one UK ambulance service, May 2015
Poster presentation at College of Paramedics Prehospital research Conference 'Questions at the Cutting Edge of Emergency Care', Hatfield, UK. Download poster at http://tinyurl.com/PlymParaNLX.

Reports & invited lectures

2014


Peninsula Emergency Medicine and Trauma Conference, March 2014
Recognition and emergency decompression of the tension pneumothorax.