Ambulance chiefs hunt for trained staff… in Poland

A SHORTAGE of paramedics has forced ambulance chiefs to start recruiting in Poland.

They said they had advertised for staff in the UK and boosted training programmes, but ‘ambulance services are currently experiencing a shortage of qualified paramedics’.

Richard Webber, from the College of Paramedics, estimated at the end of last year that there was a nationwide shortage of 2,500 to 3,000 paramedics.

He said: ‘One of the main problems is insufficient people being trained and recruited. It is a lack of workforce planning.’

The South Central Ambulance Service, working with an international recruitment firm, said it had looked for BSc-qualified paramedics with similar clinical practices to those in the UK, and decided to focus initially on Poland.

Recruiters met 30 potential paramedics in Warsaw and shortlisted 15 suitable for further training.

The first four are now on a famil- iarisation course before starting work at the service, which covers Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Hampshire. Another 11 are due to join this month.

Candidates had to take a driving test and do a clinical exercise, in addition to a full interview and background checks. The tests were identical to those in the UK and candidates whose English was not of a high enough standard to work in the UK were rejected.

A spokesman for the service said: ‘Recruiting such staff ensures more frontline ambulances are covered by qualified paramedics rather than having those vehicles, or shifts, sitting uncovered or the trust having to utilise private providers to meet demand.’

Sarah O’Donoghue, from the union Unison, said enough staff should be trained in the UK for the NHS, adding: ‘We should not need to recruit from overseas.’