East England Ambulance Service: Staff Recruitment Scheme

The East England Ambulance Service has announced that the next phase of its staff improvement scheme is currently underway.

What is the East England Ambulance Service staff improvement scheme?

The aim of the scheme is improve the quality and number of clinical staff who are able to directly respond to sick patients. The scheme will help new and existing paramedics to respond and care for patients, in an improved and professional manner. The scheme will tie in with the student paramedic recruitment drive, which will start within the next few weeks.

Why has the scheme been introduced?

The scheme has been introduced for a number of reasons. Mainly, it is believed that by recruiting and training new staff, the East England Ambulance Service will be able to reduce the pressure on their current staff. It is well known that ambulance services across the country are hugely overburdened by the increased demand on the 999 service. Therefore, by recruiting more staff, and training them to higher standards, the service will hugely benefit.

What is the aim of the scheme?

The aim of the scheme is to recruit individuals from a number of different sectors. This will include:

• 100 new graduate paramedics.
• 200 new student paramedics.
• 150 new student associate ambulance practitioners. These will act in a similar way to EMTs.
• 150 new intermediate practitioners. These will help to replace staff who move onto a higher level or different sector. The intermediate practitioners will work alongside currently qualified ambulance practitioners, to transport low risk patients to hospital.
• Training over 50 current East England Ambulance Service paramedics, to become specialised, in order to provide better forms of care to patients in their homes.
  Training over 100 ambulance care assistants, to reach the level of intermediate practitioner.

What has the reaction been to the plans?

The reaction has been extremely positive. It is believed that these are plans which will enormously benefit the patients and staff of the East England Ambulance Service. By improving and recruiting clinical staff, the service will be able to keep up with current demand, and bring new employment and opportunity to citizens in the east of the country. The Chief Executive of the East England Ambulance Service claimed that the plans are ‘extremely rewarding’ and urged anyone thinking of making a change to consider joining East England Ambulance Service.