What is the BPA?


What is the British Paramedic Association?

Soon after the HPC was formed and the Orders in Council were approved by the Privy Council, it was required that the HPC had to liaise with professional bodies for all the professions that the registrar was responsible for. At that time the only profession not to have professional body was the Ambulance profession. Two colleagues from Essex Ambulance Service were persuaded to undertake the necessary work to set up a professional body in order to ensure that the profession would be represented and fulfill the self regulation responsibilities for standards and education. The name of British Paramedic Association was agreed at an inaugural meeting held at AMBEX in 2001. From this point the development of the BPA began. Unfortunately during its first two years the start was very slow, due mainly to the fact that the two people who worked hard to get it going had to undertake their full time roles as well.

In 2003 a formal business plan was prepared for the BPA in an effort to provide some firm direction and structure. What is important to remember here is that the Paramedic element of our profession had just been subjected to an increase in HPC fees of some 300% and that had generated significant reaction around the UK. This fact along with the lack of understanding about being a professional generally was making the attraction of members to the BPA very difficult.

What are the benefits of a professional body?

The real benefits of a professional body are not always tangible. Our main areas for benefit to members lie in the philosophy that as a profession we shall work towards undertaking responsibility for our own professional future. Historically you will be aware that the standards we have worked to and the awards following training have been driven largely by the employers with significant medical support. This kind of approach had not been followed by any other registered profession from medical professions to allied health professions. Having a professional body of our own was the opportunity to change the way that education, training and associated awards are established. The prime responsibilities for the wider member benefit are:

· Self regulation of professional standards and education

· Standards of Education and training (HPC)

· Standards of Proficiency (HPC)

· QAA Benchmarking (DoH)

· Curriculum Guidance (HPC)

· Continuous Professional Development (provision and support)

· Responsibility for the review of professional awards

· Reference for point for health organizations

· Professional support and advice

Within this work our main objectives are:

Any profession that wishes to undertake full responsibility for its standards and future direction will need to pursue the objectives and establish the wider benefit of taking our profession into the future for ourselves and not led by others.

The BPA through determination and perseverance is, for the first time in our history achieving this benefit for its members as the people who deliver ambulance care to the public and our patients. A good example of this is the production of the curriculum guidance for higher education institutes and their partner ambulance service. The document has been prepared completely by registered paramedics who are also BPA members and some advice has been sought from universities and other specialists. The document has been sent to every BPA member as part of the consultation process in order to give all members the opportunity to make comment and influence the future of their profession and the associated educational standards. These responses will be incorporated into the work before the final document is submitted to the HPC for use in the approvals process for higher education and ambulance services delivering ambulance education. This is a milestone in our history and one we should all be proud of.

The constitution of the BPA is set to fulfill the professional development for its members and not to act in relation employment matters, contracts or pay. In essence the BPA was never established to be a trades union. The BPA does provide an advice service for its members who have any concerns about aspects of their profession or career. We deal with many telephone calls and email enquiries in the areas of professional concerns and employment enquiries from members and we shall continue to provide advice and guidance to assist them.

The BPA has worked hard to show itself as a responsible and professional body, willing to work hard with the profession to represent its knowledge and understanding of what the profession believes is right for the safe delivery of care to the patients and public safety. What better place is there for the HPC to get this information and establish these standards than from the profession itself. It can then meet its statutory requirement to protect the public in the knowledge that the standards and responsibility for self regulation of those standards has come from within the profession.

The requirement for CPD is as you will appreciate is the responsibility of every individual professional and in the case of the AHP's the rules set by the HPC will have to be met as CPD is to be linked to renewal of registration. As a direct and tangible benefit to our members we have invested in an on line CPD scheme which is most suitable for all in the ambulance profession and it will fit the HPC requirements. To have available such a scheme at the cost of £10.00 per year that removes the responsibility and difficulty of producing and maintaining a paper based portfolio is indeed a tangible and direct benefit to members. There is a demonstration of the scheme available on the web site for any one to look at.

We do plan to introduce other direct benefits as we develop ourselves as an organization. We currently have arrangements for text book discounts; BPA clothing and we are currently negotiating for professional indemnity insurance.

In conclusion the BPA exists to ensure that all of you in the ambulance profession, whatever sector you work in will take forward the standards for education and practice. The BPA has made significant progress in helping to promote our profession and we aim to continue to do so. I do hope that you will feel inclined to join the BPA and using your enthusiasm and knowledge help us to improve our mandate and continue our work as a professional body.

Roland Furber
Chief Executive
British Paramedic Association
College of Paramedics