Caring for you beyond the scene

Life can change in an instant, and when it does our Aftercare service is right by your side. Thanks to the recent expansion of our Aftercare team, we can now be there to support your recovery even earlier. Right from your hospital bedside.

Suffering a traumatic event which leads to emergency care will have a lasting and sometimes life-changing impact on you and your loved ones, our Aftercare team is here to help put things back together. Now that team has expanded to include in-hospital support. For those who are taken to the John Radcliffe Hospital, Thames Valley Air Ambulance care continues in the shape of Helen Osborne, an experienced NHS critical care nurse and Aftercare Manager.

Helen says: “One of the main things I really notice is how pleased patients are to see me, to know that Thames Valley Air Ambulance has a vested interest in what happens to them and the care they received at the scene carries on past the incident. They are often quite surprised that we continue that care and that we are invested in seeing how they get on.”

Helen can be on hand to fill in the blanks about what has happened to patients. Questions like did I arrive in the air ambulance? What care have I been given? What happens next? Helen is often called on for more practical advice, signposting where to find financial help for example.

As well as providing kindness and comfort to patients and their relatives, Helen’s health care skills mean she can answer clinical staff’s questions about the scene of the emergency they have been brought from.

Our critical care teams do an amazing job on the scene, giving outstanding pre-hospital care to those patients who need us most. As my work is done physically in the hospital, I’m able to give direct feedback to the crews about the condition of the patients they have treated.

Helen Osborne, Aftercare Manager

Helen explains: “Not every patient will need ongoing support, some just have questions which need answers. Others will need more reassurance and once they leave hospital, will go on receiving care from my Aftercare colleagues who work in the community.

“Patients often see me as a vehicle to feedback their thanks to the Thames Valley Air Ambulance paramedics. I’ve been really privileged to do that and send some personalised emails to the crews. So I can say I met this lady today and she remembers you gave her grandson, who was there at the scene, a Thames Valley Air Ambulance teddy and that will stay with him.”

Giving feedback to crews is an element of her role which Helen values greatly. As an intensive care nurse for more than nine years, she knows only too well the precarious condition which patients arrive to hospital in. And how important finding out what happened next can be for clinical staff.

Helen concluded: “Our critical care teams do an amazing job on the scene, giving outstanding pre-hospital care to those patients who need us most. As my work is done physically in the hospital, I’m able to give direct feedback to the crews about the condition of the patients they have treated.

“Never before have our crews routinely had access to how their patients are progressing. I can provide an update about the patients’ condition which enhances learning opportunities for our critical care teams, which in turns drives our clinical excellence.

“It’s a huge privilege.”