tony1976

Hi All

I know this is a Brittish EXPAT site but i think this may be the best place to come for information and advice. I am and Australian wanting to work in th UK, you guys want to come here and we want to go over there. I am an Advaced Care Paramedic with the QAS. Does anyone know if its possible to get work with the NHS, ill take what ever level. If anyone cane give me info that would be great.

Cheers

skye

Why on earth do you want to come to the UK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Flapper

Hi Tony. I'm a UK paramedic and have worked for the Welsh ambulance services NHS Trust for almost 13 years. I have also recently passed the interview with QAS, and i have also been offered a job with the St. Johns in Western Australia.
To work for a UK ambulance NHS Trust now you will have to get state-registered with the HPC (Health Professions Council), by getting your qualification equivalated to our qualifications. I guess this is similar to what we have to do when we apply to Australia, and shouldn't be a problem. I don't know if you would have to go through this process yourself, or whether it would be part of the recruitment process. You could go onto the HPC web-site for more info or to ask them any questions.
State-registered paramedics from the UK are getting equivalated to advance-care (P3) paramedics in Queensland, though obviously there are quite a few differences in working practices, which get sorted during induction courses.
Judging by the amount of UK guys fleeing to OZ (apparently QAS recently interviewed 71 UK candidates, and passed 40 of them; and they are currently recruiting around twice a year!), there should be lots of vacancies in the UK!
Do you mind me asking why you would consider moving to the UK, as opposed to possibly trying another Australian ambo service? We generally have lots of reasons for considering escaping from this overcrowded (60 million) rock!!

tony1976

Hi Flapper

Yeah I have been on the HPC website and the look at qualification form outside the UK. I guess the question is once you get registered with them would that allow me to apply for jobs with the NHS.

I guess i just want a change, experience life somewhere else in the world. My parents are from the Uk and i have relatives there.

tony1976

I want to experience a bit of the Uk life i guess skye, you get sick of the hot aussie weather

Flapper

I think the NHS trusts have a policy of only employing state-registered paramedics; so i guess you would have to get registered first?! But i don't know how that would tie in with immigration. Chicken and egg situation! Sorry can't offer much more help in that area, but feel free to send me a pm if you would like any general info on the ambo service here, or the state of the UK.
The drier, windier climate of WA is what is deciding things for us at the moment; not sure if i could handle hot and humid, they say it drains you. Also we are in favour of daylight saving. Perth generally impressed us during a recent visit. Good luck with your decision, but i would recommend you spend some time here, away from mid-summer, before up-rooting to the UK. You may find you have made a costly mistake (same as a lot of people do going out to OZ).

vanmonkey

Hi tony, it will cost you about 1000 dollars to get hpc to look at your qualifications, but once you are registered there are plenty of jobs it is a matter of picking an area and getting the names of whose buttons to push. London is only taking university graduates from 2008. good luck

nessie518

hi tony
dont know if this will help but i used to work with a oz paramedic with the scottish ambulance service,as far as i can recall he was married to a scottish girl and came over here ,he had to be assessed by our service at the college.Not quite the level he was at in oz but he was fast tracked thru the system and now back to state reg para.he has now moved on to our air wing with the helimed.He was accepted without to many problems started off as your level para 1 within 6 months was state registered so it can be done and as has already been said seems to be lots of uk guys n gals leaving enmass for oz so plenty of work around.

jman1968

Hello everyone,
I know this is a UK forum, but i'm a Canadian paramedic and I can't find an appropriate alternate forum. Does anyone know of any Canadian paramedics working in Oz that I might be able to contact or if the ambulance services there are recruiting Canadians as aggressively as they seem to be with UK medics? I'm currently in the Middle East (6 yrs) and looking for a change, and kind of got used to the climate, so Canada is out. Thanks in advance for any info you can give me

temptininnit

There's a canadian guy in Brisbane. I'll try to get his contact details.

pommie girl

hiya all, just to let you know I have returned my visa application and now waiting for a firm job offer. A date and location would seal my dream. Getting nervous though it is a huge step, any tips are how to make the move as easy as possible, that would exclude the horrendous flight. Hope to catch up with some of you in the near future

chris rose

Does anybody know of anyone on here who works for NSW ambulance? I have put an application in recently, so would be great to ask a few questions about them specifically. What is the situation with other states? It appears only QAS and NSW are recruiting - does anyone know if the others are to follow soon?

cheers
chris

nessie518

hi Chris
did nt know NSW were recruiting,thought it was only QAS,although on saying that another tech from my area has been succesfull in applying in WA on a 457 had to pay everything herself,tho WA are sponsoring her she goes next month took 6 months in total from start to finish.

Nik H

Nessie, what was the outcome of your enquiries about getting a job in Aus with a UK Technician qualification? I am a UK technician and am hoping to become a paramedic soon. It won't necessarily happen though and if I could move out to Aus and earn decent money without doing my paramedic course in the UK, I would!

nessie518

hi nik h
the outcome is that yes queensland ,nsw and western all recognise and sponsor you as long as you have 3 years experience on the road not including probation year.if you type in queensland ambulance service in british expats website and do a search you will find alot of quotes of people who have done it and in the process of doing it now ,infact queensland r in london interviewing middle of this month,its a really good and informative and by people who have or are doing it.hope it helps and good luck.