Monday 10th March 2014 – 5.15pm – Murray MacGregor.
For 137 people across the West Midlands, there has been good news coming through their letterbox recently.
That is the number of student paramedic places that West Midlands Ambulance Service has offered to the 1,100 people who applied for the role, with another 90 candidates still completing final assessments.
And there is more good news to come. The Trust will be re-opening the chance to apply later this year when it recruits a further 70 student paramedics, to increase the total number to some 280 student paramedics.
Recruitment Advisor, Louise Harris, said: “We were overwhelmed by the amazing response to the original advert. What was really pleasing was that we had applications from right across the region and from every community within it.
“As a service that goes out to every community, it is really important that we get applicants who represent the people we serve.
“The first group of 33 successful applicants will start their career with the ambulance service on 22nd April.
“Over the next 30 months, they will develop their clinical skills, learn to drive using blue lights and sirens and gain invaluable experience learning ‘people skills’, so that they can treat patients in their hour of need.
“We are very proud that the pass rate for the student paramedics is about 95% which is down to a lot of hard work on the part of the students and paramedic tutors, but also an extensive support network provided by the Trust such as the mentors the individuals will be working with.
“Later on this year, we will be recruiting a further 70 student paramedics as part of the Trusts commitment to have a paramedic on every vehicle. Although this is a major financial commitment, it is absolutely the right thing to do from a patient care perspective.
“I am sure each of the successful candidates will be elated but also a bit nervous. We’re looking forward to welcoming them over the next few weeks and seeing them develop over the coming years.”
Ends
Hello, I wonder if you could tell me when the next Student Paramedic course is set to open for applications? From the information I can find on this, another 70 positions are due to be advertised this year and I would be extremely keen on applying for this role.
Many thanks
Dave Gallagher
Hi Dave…the simple answer is no. Our Recruitment team is currently going through the last round of applications and awarding interviews for successful candidates. Once we get through all of those we’ll be in a position to see how many more people we need to recruit. I wouldn’t imagine it would be too long. You can set alerts on NHS Jobs which should alert you to the next round of applications or you could try calling our recruitment team directly on 01384 215 896. Hope this helps.