From Film Sets & Festivals…
to the NHS Front Line...
Location Medical Services Ltd has been well known for providing on-site professional medical services to the Film,TV & Event industries for over 25 years. Since the coronavirus outbreak, however, all this work is suspended and we are now supporting the NHS.
Location Medical is currently deploying 12 mobile medical response units every day for the NHS - into 3 clinical commissioning groups to provide both Covid & Non-Covid patient assessment services on behalf of 50 GP practices - covering around 1/3 of a million registered patients across West London & Surrey.
Staff preparing to leave LMS Base at Shepperton Studios to visit patients.
Clinicians, who are normally on the sets of productions like 1917, Killing Eve & The Crown have now been re-trained and re-deployed as a Covid Response Team supporting GPs and primary Care Services across West London and North West Surrey. Staff were asked to volunteer, with many choosing to put themselves in the front line – rather than being furloughed in safety. Unfortunately, LMS has already had 2 paramedics contract Covid 19 – but, thankfully, both have made full recoveries and have chosen to return to the front line.
Daniel Melhuish, Managing Director of Location Medical Services, (based at Shepperton Film Studios) says: “Alongside our Film, TV and event work, we started providing primary care paramedics as a small trial in 2 GP networks in 2018. These trials had already proved that paramedics could be safely and effectively deployed to visit patients on behalf of GP’s – taking pressure off over-stretched family doctors. Through this work, as Covid hit the UK and patient numbers dramatically increased, we started to get enquiries from NHS commissioners and Primary Care Networks, looking for enhanced community support. We contacted all our medical staff (many of whom spend their lives on event sites and film sets) to see what help might be out there.
We were genuinely humbled and amazed by the number of our staff who offered to be redeployed to the “front line”. They all had the option to "ride out the storm" - but they attended hastily assembled training courses and prepared to join the front line in the fight against this pandemic. Amazing people.
Medical Staff being re-trained for Covid Response in the Korda Theatre
Huge thanks to The Pinewood Group for lending us a preview theater at Shepperton Studios, without a moment’s hesitation, to allow training to be delivered in a "socially distanced" manner. And for working with us to be able to expand our operations from Shepperton Studios for the duration of this crisis.
This is not a situation any of us would wish for - but I am in awe of the speed with which our Clinical Leadership team managed to scale up our primary care operations in response, and ahead of the peak demand - and that our medics are out there making a real difference supporting GP's and NHS colleagues.”