A qualitative exploration of ambulance clinician behaviour and decision making to identify factors influencing on-scene times for suspected stroke patients in North East England

Ambulance clinician assessment of suspected stroke patients aims to provide rapid access to specialist care, however regional and national data show increasing pre-hospital times. This study explored paramedic views about factors contributing to on-scene time (OST) for suspected stroke patients, with a view to identifying opportunities for future interventions, to reduce OST.