Ethical recruitment and employment of internationally educated paramedics

‘Be more than a paramedic. Be a London paramedic. London. No ordinary challenge. Become a paramedic in the world's busiest paramedic service and you'll receive diagnostic training and make clinical decisions.’

And so the advertisement goes on on the service's website.

The shortage of skilled British paramedics has encouraged an aggressive bid to tempt Australian paramedics to make the move and is part of a number of initiatives the London Ambulance Service NHS Trust (LAS) is using to help fill posts that are vacant. LAS is seeking to recruit registered paramedics from overseas for the first time in a bid to fill their empty posts. Australia and New Zealand are being targeted as the skills and training are said to closely match those in the UK. In order for LAS to do this, they had to seek approval from the UK Border Agency so as to offer sponsorship for 100 work visas a year for those paramedics who are non-European.