Credential in Rural and Remote Health

Professor Stuart Maitland-Knibb is one of seven doctors in the UK, and the first in England, to receive the Rural and Remote Health Credential award as announced by NHS Education for Scotland (NES).

The Credential award acknowledges the complexities of providing good and safe care in remote and rural communities. It recognises too the competencies and critical skills doctors bring to their practice of rural medicine and the example they set for future practitioners.

Stuart is the Director for the National Centre of Remote and Rural Medicine within the School of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Central Lancashire. He has worked extensively in urgent care, emergency medicine and pre-hospital emergency medicine. He is a GP, a consultant in pre-hospital emergency medicine, and a specialist in remote and hostile locations. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons Edinburgh and a Member of the Royal College of General Practitioners.

After working in the military for 12 years as clinical director, he created an out-of-hospital remote centre to deliver urgent and emergency care solely by primary carers. This has developed into a successful unit delivering class-leading care in the community.

He has worked extensively on a Helicopter Emergency Medicine Services (HEMS) platform delivering pre-hospital emergency medicine in rural areas to critically ill or injured patients. He works for a global remote telemedicine company delivering urgent primary care and retrieval medicine support.

Stuart is also a member of the UK International Search and Rescue Team which deploys as the UK government emergency rescue to natural disasters where casualties are believed to be trapped.

Speaking about rural medicine and the Credential, Professor Maitland-Knibb said:

“Doctors who practice in rural areas of England face unique challenges where they act as extended generalists who often need to deliver emergency medicine for up to 24 hours before a patient can be transferred to hospital.

“This new Rural and Remote Credential will equip doctors with the necessary skills needed to operate in remote settings where any situation is possible, and time is critical.

“I am proud to become the first practitioner in England to receive this recognition and hope this new GMC-approved curriculum will pave the way in ensuring the health and wellbeing of those living in rural communities matches their urban counterparts.” The National Centre for Remote and Rural Medicine is based in Whitehaven, West Cumbria, and attracts medical professionals from all over the world. It currently

delivers four postgraduate courses designed specifically for medics working in remote and rural settings and which can be included as part of the credential’s leaner route pathway.

To find out more about the credential learner and recognition routes, visit NHS Education for Scotland’s Credential in Rural and Remote Health