Trainee Advanced Practitioners Urgent and Primary Care (TAPUPC)

Overview

The Scottish Ambulance Service is at the frontline of the NHS in Scotland, responding to over 600,000 emergency calls a year, we provide an emergency Ambulance Service to a population of over 5 million people, across the mainland and island communities.

We are committed to developing a workforce capable of delivering the highest levels of quality service and clinical, person centred care, in line with Scottish Ambulance service and NHS Quality Strategy.

Advanced Practitioner Role

The Advanced Practitioner role is an exciting development within the Service, offering a clear pathway for clinical career progression. We are currently inviting applications from Paramedics for Trainee Advanced Practitioner (Urgent & Primary Care) posts.

Advanced Practitioners in Urgent & Primary Care deliver high level, autonomous clinical care, including assessment, diagnosis, management, treatment and prescribing for patients with complex needs. The role operates within a rotational model and includes multidisciplinary working in primary care and Out of Hours services, virtual consultations, clinical support for other professionals, and operational response on behalf of the Service.

Advanced practitioners demonstrate advanced clinical knowledge, critical thinking and decision making beyond HCPC paramedic registration requirements and will work across all four pillars of advanced practice, contributing to audit, research, education and service development.

Applicants must be HCPC registered Paramedics, eligible for entry to a Postgraduate Diploma in Advanced Practice, and have significant experience in urgent, primary or emergency care.

As part of the Scottish Ambulance Service response, post holders must hold a full UK manual driving licence and an appropriate Emergency Response Driver Training qualification, which will be provided if not already held.

Successful applicants who do not already hold the required qualifications will undertake a fully funded Postgraduate Diploma in Advanced Practice, including independent prescribing, and complete a competency framework portfolio. The full training programme is expected to take approximately 30 months.

Applicants are advised to read all supporting documentation prior to applying.

Candidates requiring training will be appointed as Trainee Advanced Practitioners and paid in line with Agenda for Change (AfC) Annex 21: 70% of the top of Band 7 during Year 1, and 75% of the top of Band 7 for the remainder of the training programme. On successful completion of the AP (UPC) training programme, staff will move to the bottom of Band 7. Where an individual is employed by SAS or another health board and their current salary is higher, pay protection will apply until the qualification date. This will also apply to overtime, unsocial hours, and any agreed pay award uplifts. Existing increments will be retained until all required modules are completed and the individual is assessed as competent against advanced practice requirements.

The AP Urgent and Primary Care shift rosters vary across the country and are undergoing a major review. As such the posts are advertised as relief for now but this is subject to change.

Information about the application process, frequently asked questions, the AP training programme, and the AP role, is available in the attached TAPUPC Application Pack document.

Recruitment Engagement Sessions

• Monday 16th March 2026 in Aberdeen, 10am and 1pm Book here
• Thursday 19th March 2026 in Glasgow, 10am and 1pm Book here
• Tuesday 31st March 2026 Online, 10am Book here

Assessment Days (2026)

• Aberdeen - 11th and 12th May 2026
• Glasgow - 19th to 21st May 2026
• Edinburgh - 25th to 28th May 2026.

External applicants must pass a fitness test before the assessment day. Applicants currently working in nonclinical roles may also be required to undertake a fitness test.

Locations

There are vacancies in the following locations:

East - Lothian, Fife, Killin, Dundee

West - Glasgow, Hamilton

North - Aberdeen, Inverness

Informal enquiries should be directed to the generic email address . In the subject heading please indicate the location in which you are interested.

NHS Scotland is committed to encouraging equality and diversity among our workforce and eliminating unlawful discrimination. The aim is for our workforce to be truly representative and for each employee to feel respected and able to give their best. To this end, NHS Scotland welcomes applications from all sections of society.

To work in the United Kingdom, there is a legal requirement for an individual to demonstrate that they have the relevant permission to work in the country. This permission is, without exception, granted by the UK Visa and Immigrations Service. As part of the pre employment checks for a preferred candidate, NHS Scotland Boards will check your entitlement to work in the UK. It can be evidenced through a number of routes including specific types of visa as well as EU settled and pre settled status. To find out more about these routes of permission, please refer to the GOV.UK website here.

Please note that Scottish Ambulance Service is NOT licensed to issue certificates of sponsorship under current UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) regulations. Applicants must have the right to work in the UK without requiring sponsorship to work with us.