Paramedics are Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) regulated Allied Health Professionals (AHPs), who provide unscheduled care to people who have an urgent or emergency healthcare need out of the hospital environment. They assess, treat, manage, discharge and/or where appropriate refer service users across the lifespan, with almost any injury or illness (encompassing acute, chronic, and/or specialist services).

Offered from November 2019, this course will enable you to become a self-sufficient registered practitioner who has the knowledge, skills and clinical expertise to deliver safe, effective and appropriate treatment to service users with urgent, emergency, and unscheduled healthcare requirements. This includes, management at the scene, or in-hospital of critically ill and injured patients.

On successful completion of this postgraduate Paramedic Science degree, you will be eligible to register with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) as a paramedic.

Placements

Practice-based learning is a compulsory component and is integrated across the two years of your course. You will not receive payment for this. You will travel to practice-based learning settings at your own expense and this is an additional cost to the course fee. You will also be responsible for arranging and paying for any accommodation or insurance related to travel to practice-based learning settings. Practice placements are located in London and the outskirts, you should be prepared to travel significant distances to some placement areas.

The structure, duration and range of practice-based learning settings will support your achievement of the course learning outcomes and the Standards of Proficiency – Paramedics (2014).

Placements  will be with both the London Ambulance Service NHS Trust and in a number of wider healthcare settings such as:

• residential care homes, ward areas, hospices
• GP surgeries
• operating theatres and intensive care/high dependency units
• mental health environments
• maternity and children’s services.

Placements with the London Ambulance Service NHS Trust will be based in the North West London sector, which includes five training stations (Brent, Hillingdon, Hanwell, Fulham and Westminster) and ambulance bases at Ruislip, Pinner, Wembley, St John’s Wood, North Kensington, Chiswick, Isleworth, Feltham, Heathrow and Hayes.

Placements will follow compulsory clinical shift patterns and will include unsociable hours including days, nights, weekends and bank holidays.

In ambulance placements you will be supervised by a Practice Educator or PEd. In healthcare placements you will be supervised by a mentor.

You will undertake the following number of practice hours across the 2 years:

• 1,080 hours of ambulance placement (13 weeks in year 1 and 14 weeks in year 2)
• 320 hours of healthcare placements (4 weeks per year)
• 80 hours of Non-Emergency Transport Services (NETS) (2 weeks in year 1)
• 4 weeks of preparation for practice (2 weeks per year).

Total = 1,640 hours

Successful completion of this course allows you to apply to the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) for registration as a qualified paramedic. Once qualified and HPCP registered you can apply for a job in an NHS Ambulance Trust, where the majority of Paramedics work.

You could also go on to work in*:

• GP surgeries
• walk-in centres
• minor injury units
• helicopter emergency services
• oil rigs
• research units.