NEWLY qualified Scots paramedics are heading for England after being “thrown on the scrapheap” because there are not enough jobs.
The paramedics follow paediatric nurses and midwives in telling how a lack of jobs when they graduate has left them without a career in Scotland.
Scottish Labour’s health spokeswoman Jackie Baillie said “It is an astonishing sign of incompetence that the SNP has thrown newly-qualified paramedics in the scrapheap immediately after training them up.
“The SNP’s shambolic failure in workforce planning has left hundreds of fully qualified NHS staff out of work while services are stretched to breaking point.
“With winter looming, the SNP must get a grip of this crisis and get these staff into the services where they are badly needed.”
There are five paramedic courses in Scots universities offerinfg a BSc in Paramedic Science – including Stirling where around two-thirds of this year’s cohort have yet to find employment.
Two students told how they now have interviews lined up in England and Wales.
The students are particularly critical of what they call “the lack of communication from SAS” which, they say, has left them scrabbling about looking for jobs.
The SAS carry out fitness tests which are done prior to interview to demonstrate their physical capacity to do the job.
One of the women explained: “If you fail you get an opportunity to redo it which is meant to be within three to six months. But those who have failed heard anything from the SAS since April.
“We understand the Scottish Ambulance Service is overwhelmed by the volume of applicants it has had this year but I feel they should have communicated better with us, everything we know has been from the grapevine.”
Just a third of the cohort have got SAS jobs with another third told they would have to relocate to another part of the country to get work.
One of the students said: “Some of the areas are quite rural; more than two hours away from where they live. But they were told if they didn’t take those positions they would have to reapply.”
In a recent survey of paramedic students 10% said they had applied outwith Scotland for work.
One of the students said: “We are spoonfed through our degree for SAS. We do our placements at SAS and we get speakers from the SAS.
“But a lot of people like us are caught in limbo. We have no money coming in and we can’t work privately as an NQP.”
And they cannot understand why the Scottish Government is investing so heavily in providing places on degree courses when there are no jobs.
“We get a bursary of £10,000 a year and we also get paid back accommodation and fuel costs when we go on placements.”
That can mean an investment per student of up to £54,000 – with English and Welsh ambulance services reaping the benefit.
“Why are the Scottish Government wasting their money training us for other countries?
“We want something done so other years following us won’t have to go through the same stress and anxiety.”
In a letter to First Minister John Swinney the students pointed out that it is common knowledge there is a lack of paramedics yet there is a large proportion of graduates without work.
They are calling for a guaranteed probation year placement similar to those for newly qualified teachers or a cap on the numbers accepted on to university courses.
A spokesperson for Stirling University said: “The student target intake for the BSc Paramedic Science degree is set by the Scottish Funding Council as recommended by the Scottish Government’s Chief Nursing Officer Directorate.
“The University of Stirling prides itself on providing tailored support and subject-specific advice for students and graduates, a dedicated Careers Consultant in every faculty, regular careers events and advice.”
An SAS spokesperson said they were in the process of recruiting paramedics for the remainder of the 2024/25 financial year “in the largest recruitment process the service has undertaken”.
But they said there has been a higher than expected number of applicants in certain locations and they seek to support applicants to consider alternative locations where there are opportunities for employment.
“We would recognise it has not been as smooth a process as we envisaged, and we will be reviewing this process moving forward.”
The SAS said they have employed 159 NQPs – about half of the number qualifying across Scotland – which they claim is a fourfold increase on the previous financial year.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “We set policies and frameworks at a national level and it is the role of health boards, as the employers, to recruit graduates through a fair and consistent recruitment practice.
“When making recruitment decisions, they have to consider current turnover, retention, absence rates and budgets.
“We continue to work with the Scottish Ambulance Service to explore how the role of a paramedic can expand further into primary and secondary care, offering new and different employment opportunities.”