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Barriers to paramedic education in black and ethnic minority (BME) groups

02 January 2017
Features
02 January 2017
Volume 9 · Issue 1

Abstract

Purpose:

To gain an understanding of how Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) groups respond to information about paramedic courses, their experience of the enrolment processes and their experience of paramedic training.

Methodology:

Telephone interviews were conducted with qualified paramedics and student paramedics from BME groups.

Findings:

Interviews revealed issues in relation to the accessibility and understanding of information on paramedic education and a lack of information in preparation for paramedic courses, causing unrealistic expectations. A lack of diversity in the student population, incidences of racial offence (unconscious or conscious), and a lack of visibility of BME staff in the ambulance service as well as in the wider community were identified.

Practical implications:

The results produced from this evaluation may contribute towards a series of recommendations in order to better inform practice to increase the diversity of students entering into paramedic science and in order to avoid issues such as student attrition

The West Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust successfully recruited 10% of their applicants from black and minority ethnic groups (BME) in 2011–2012. This fell to approximately 3% in 2012–2013 (Jabeen, 2012). The total proportion of applicants to the service from BME groups also fell, from 20% to 17.93% during this same time period (Jabeen, 2012). When considering the NHS Ambulance Service as a whole, from January to August 2012, only 3% of their workforce is made up of individuals from BME groups, a stark contrast with London Ambulance Trust, whose workforce is made up of 9.3% from BME groups (Jabeen, 2012). However, there is a paucity of evidence providing reasons for the low frequency of BME individuals applying to and gaining employment with the ambulance service. This study sought to identify potential barriers to BME groups for gaining employment or training within West Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust.

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Paramedic education
Ethnicity
Diversity
Uniformed services