Once you have been working as a registered paramedic for two years, you can progress to roles that allow you to carry out more treatments, specialise in specific areas and take on more responsibility.
Working life
Once you have two years' experience as a registered paramedic, you can progress to be a:
Hazardous Area Response Team (HART) paramedic
specialist paramedic, for example in mental health
advanced paramedic, for example in critical care
consultant paramedic
Paramedics in these roles have the necessary experience and training to make decisions and treat patients at the emergency scene. As a result, the patient may not need to go to hospital and experienced paramedics can treat people at home.
You'll need:
excellent communication skills
excellent interpersonal skills
to be able to work accurately, safely and quickly under pressure
good driving skills
As an experienced paramedic, you may, for example:
carry out tests (such as urine tests) and interpret the results
undertake basic procedures in the home
refer patients to social care services
directly admit patients to specialist units
prescribe and administer medication
You’ll do shift work, including evenings and weekends, and also on-call work. As part of a team, working with other healthcare professionals, you’ll have your own area of responsibility and be able to provide care independently.
Working from a response car, GP surgery or urgent care centre, you will assess patients with symptoms and conditions such as suspected fractures or chest pain. You might also see patients in nursing or residential homes, schools or prisons. You will take a patient’s medical history, examine them and order tests and scans where necessary.
There are also opportunities for experienced paramedics with extended qualifications to move into executive director posts, research and teaching roles.
Personal characteristics
Experienced paramedics need to be:
able to understand a situation quickly
calm in stressful situations
confident and reassuring
resilient in dealing with one’s own, and other people’s strong emotions
able to follow procedures
able to work quickly and accurately
able to work alone or in a team
willing to educate and train new ambulance service staff
Training and development
Training will include continual professional development (CPD) through a mix of self-directed and mandatory skill refresher courses.
You may also be expected to undergo Paramedic Practice Educator (PPEd) training so you can mentor the next generation of paramedics, technicians and emergency care assistants. And you can undertake specialist training so you can prescribe a range of medication, for example if you are based in a GP surgery or A&E department.
You may have to gain further qualifications to progress too, depending on which qualifications you currently hold and which type of experienced paramedic you are.
Pay and conditions
Most jobs in the NHS are covered by the Agenda for Change (AfC) pay scales[1] and experienced paramedics usually start at band 6. This pay system covers all staff except doctors, dentists and the most senior managers. Although experienced paramedics work standard hours of around 37.5 a week, these are often on a shift pattern. Shifts can cover 24 hours a day, seven days a week throughout the year, so a paramedic’s work pattern will usually include evenings, nights, early starts, weekends and bank holidays. Terms and conditions can vary for employers outside of the NHS.
Paramedics need to be prepared to work outdoors in all conditions, where necessary.
Where the role can lead
As you gain even more experience, you could become a team leader, supervising the work of paramedics and emergency care assistants. You could become a manager, responsible for several teams. In some ambulance trusts you could progress to consultant paramedic, advising on and developing the clinical practice in that service.
Teaching or research are other options. Some experienced paramedics choose to join a specialist team such as caring for stroke[2] patients, work on an air ambulance or in a GP surgery or A&E department where you will be trained to prescribe a range of medications.
Job market and vacancies
If you're applying for a role either directly in the NHS or in an organisation that provides NHS services, you'll be asked to show how you think the values of the NHS Constitution[3] apply in your everyday work. The same will be true if you are applying for a university course funded by the NHS. Find out more about NHS values[4].
Most NHS organisations advertise their job and apprenticeship vacancies on NHS Jobs[5]. Here are some of the current vacancies.
