Viet-Hai Phung

Non-clinical researcher

United Kingdom

Doctorate Title: Eastern European migrants: what are the experiences of ambulance care and what are the barriers and facilitators of accessing such care? A stakeholder informed study.

Doctorate Description: European Union (EU) expansion from 2004 granted new rights to work and live anywhere to citizens mainly from former Communist Eastern Bloc countries. Consequently, the UK has experienced significant migration from these new Accession countries. This has raised the importance of equity and equality for the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) generally and for ambulance services specifically. Lincolnshire, a predominantly rural county, has experienced high immigration from these new EU member states.

This study aims to improve ambulance care for Eastern European migrants in Lincolnshire. It is rooted in several philosophical approaches. It is deductive because the systematic scoping review themes inform the interview schedule, which then inform the Delphi statements. Because it focuses on the experiences of patients and staff, the study also draws on interpretive phenomenology. The emphasis on context in shaping experiences draws on grounded theory, critical realism and interpretive phenomenology. The extensive involvement of patients draws on elements of participatory action research (PAR). Thematic analysis around the closed themes from the systematic review enables the phenomenon to be broken down into smaller, important units.

To achieve the aim, the study uses three inter-connected, phases of work. The systematic scoping review identifies key themes in healthcare use among minority ethnic and migrant groups in Europe. The interviews with Eastern European migrant patients explore their experiences of ambulance care, while the staff interviews discuss their experiences of attending to this population. Alongside the existing interviewees, Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) representatives, will also be invited to the subsequent Delphi study. All participants will have an opportunity to make recommendations for service delivery improvements.