MEDSERVE Mid Glamorgan Emergency Doctor’s Service

The Mid Glamorgan Emergency Doctor’s Service (MEDSERVE) was created in 1994 by a group of General Practitioners in the Mid Glamorgan area who perceived the need for a doctor who could rapidly respond to a request for help from the Ambulance Service. Their remit was to attend road accidents and other incidents where the presence of a doctor at the scene could make a vital difference to the morbidity and mortality of trauma patients, particularly in locations and incidents where it was not possible to transport the patient swiftly to hospital.

The group became a registered charity – it was and continues to be manned by doctors who volunteer their time and expertise, with no NHS funding; and the group has expanded in the last few years and now consists of 10 on call doctors. These doctors now cover an area of approximately 1200 square miles, including Abergavenny and Newport in the east, Cardiff and the Vale, the M4 and A465 corridors, and extending to Neath & Swansea in the west.

Area covered by MEDSERVE WALES doctors

This expansion prompted a minor change in the charity’s name during 2002. Through the Charities Commission, the Mid Glamorgan Emergency Doctors Service (MEDSERVE) became the Medical Emergency Doctors Service (MEDSERVE WALES) to reflect our expanding remit.

Doctors from MEDSERVE WALES are specially trained and exercised to perform the role of Medical Incident Commander when a Major Incident has been declared or can be anticipated in the South Wales area. This is illustrated by the the Port Talbot Steel works explosion, where 3 doctors attended at scene for 6 hours. They also act as Medical Incident Commanders in conjunction with the Ambulance Trust for the many events in the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff.

In 2006, MEDSERVE WALES were presented with a certificate from the Wales Council for Voluntary Action – we were “Highly Commended” in their 2006 Wales Volunteer of the Year awards. We also launched our own website – www.medservewales.org – and ran 2 meetings for a wider medical audience, hosted by BMA Wales.

For the future, the group continues to have the benefit of dedicated and enthusiastic doctors who believe that there is a need for the scheme to be sustained and expanded. We are also helping the Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust with an initiative to increase immediate medical care in West Wales. We have also started to establish links with the Welsh Air Ambulance scheme – www.walesairambulance.com – as within the next 12 months they will have to capability to take a doctor in their new, larger helicopters.

We continue to have much needed support from our colleagues in the Welsh Ambulance Trust, the Police and Fire Services, and Gwent Healthcare Trust, but there are still areas of the health service and local and national government that do not understand our role. Our aim is to enlighten them, leading by example.

If you would like any further information on the work of the group, please contact MEDSERVEWALES@aol.com