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Operations & systems
What patients think of alternative response units
The experiences of patients, their families, and carers during care from alternative ambulance response units: A scoping review
Paramedicine · 2026-10-25 · Added 27 October 2026
A scoping review of patient, family and carer experiences of alternative ambulance response units found that people value receiving competent care at home, avoiding hospital transport, and referral pathways with continuity of care beyond the initial episode.
- Study type
- Systematic review
- Design
- Scoping review
- Participants
- 3 studies across diverse settings
- Main finding
- Key experience constructs: convenience of home-based care, avoiding unnecessary ED attendance, perceived competence plus interpersonal communication, reassurance and psychological safety, and perceived longer-term benefit from referral and continuity of care
- Caveat
- Only three studies with heterogeneous methods were found — the evidence base for experience measures in this model is thin
- Bottom line
- Context only
Why it matters in Australia (Medium relevance). Non-transport and alternative response models run across Australian services in various forms, so the experience themes are relevant — but only three small studies with mixed methods underpin them.
Learning goal
Understand the factors that shape patient, family and carer experiences of alternative ambulance response units in my practice.
More
- Topic: Operations & systems
- Daily scan: 27 October 2026
- Podcast: Paramedic Papers Daily, 27 October 2026
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