Welsh Ambulance Service announces freeze on newly-qualified paramedic recruitment

Students training to become paramedics in Wales say they have been advised to apply for jobs abroad due to a freeze on recruitment of newly qualified paramedics. The Welsh Ambulance Service confirmed newly qualified paramedics would not be offered roles this year due to "financial and operational issues". Students in their final year of paramedic science degrees contacted BBC Your Voice to say they have been advised to apply for jobs in Canada, New Zealand and Australia, with one calling the move "crazy and shortsighted". Carl Kneeshaw, from the ambulance service, said it was "navigating a difficult financial and operational landscape". The Welsh government said it was "working closely" with the service and other bodies to address the challenges and support graduates. The degree-level training of paramedics is heavily subsidised by Healthcare Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW), part of NHS Wales, which will have spent millions of pounds on funding this year's cohort with bursaries. Two Welsh universities, Swansea and Wrexham, provide the BSc paramedic science courses, with around 70 students expected to graduate this summer. One of the students affected, who asked not be named,