PARAMEDICS are ditching life on the road to work on hospital wards.
Warwick Hospital is advertising for paramedics to join its team as nurses in a bid to counteract the number of nurses leaving the health service.
The amount of staff jumping ship is a nationwide problem, which the Lakin Road hospital has also previously tried to balance by recruiting EU nurses, a drive which has since been stopped.
Currently two paramedics work in Accident and Emergency to assess patients, and bosses say the initiative has proved such a success it is now opening it up for others to be employed on hospital wards.
They will be paid around the same amount as a paramedic – between £23,000 and £30,000 a year.
A spokeswoman for South Warwickshire Foundation Trust – which runs the hospital – told the Observer: “Recruiting paramedics into clinical roles is one of the trust’s recruitment initiatives to explore how different roles could support the organisation.
“We currently have two paramedics working in Accident and Emergency. Following on from the success of these roles, the trust will be recruiting externally for similar positions within Acute Medical Unit, also known as Oken Ward.
“Although there are national NHS recruitment issues, initiatives like this put us in a strong position to recruit more clinical staff. In addition we also place a large emphasis on retaining our existing workforce, supporting training and development opportunities to fulfil career ambitions.”
And West Midlands Ambulance Service says it was in a strong position nationally, as the only service with no paramedic vacancies.
It has also seen a decline in the number of staff leaving the service.
A spokeswoman said: “We are the leading ambulance service in the development of paramedics through a university process and our close partnerships and collaborations mean over the last decade, literally thousands of students have undertaken placements with the trust as they learn their profession.
“Currently more than 700 student paramedics are being trained with more than 400 more entering full-time study.
“The number of staff leaving the trust declined this year compared to last year.”
