Lifesavers 'thrown on the scrapheap'

Desperately needed graduates forced to move south for work

- VIVIENNE AITKEN

NEWLY-QUALIFIED Scottish paramedics are heading for England after being "thrown on the scrapheap" because there are not enough jobs.

The paramedics follow paediatric nurses and midwives in revealing how a lack of jobs when they graduate has left them without a career in Scotland.

Scottish Labour health spokeswoman Jackie Baillie said: "It is an astonishing sign of incompetence that the SNP has thrown newly qualified paramedics in the scrapheap immediately after training them up.

"The SNP's shambolic failure in workforce planning has left hundreds of qualified NHS staff out of work while services are at breaking point.

"With winter looming, the SNP must get these staff into services where they are badly needed."

There are five paramedic courses in universities offering a BSc in paramedic science, including Stirling where two-thirds of this year's cohort have yet to find employment.

Two students told how they now have interviews lined up in England and Wales. They are critical of the lack of communication from the Scottish Ambulance Service which, they say, has left them scrabbling about for jobs.