Job Advert
Qualified Advanced Practitioners in Urgent and Primary Care
The Scottish Ambulance Service is seeking HCPC registered paramedics who are qualified Advanced Practitioners (APUPC) to join its Urgent and Primary Care team.
This varied role involves providing autonomous, person-centred care to patients with complex and undifferentiated presentations. You will rotate between remote telephone and video consultations, responding in a car as part of the wider SAS response, and providing professional support to other clinicians. Where local arrangements are in place, you will also work in primary care, out-of-hours or a similar service. As an APUPC, you will:
autonomously assess, diagnose and manage people with complex and undifferentiated presentations;
prescribe and agree appropriate treatment, referral, admission or discharge pathways;
provide care through face-to-face, telephone and video consultation where required;
support clinical colleagues through leadership, supervision, education and feedback;
contribute across the four pillars of advanced practice, including clinical practice, leadership, education, research, audit and service improvement.
Applicants who do not yet meet the essential criteria may consider applying for a future trainee APUPC post.
Applicants must meet the driving and fitness requirements applicable to the post. Please see the recruitment pack for details, including when a fitness assessment is required.
Qualification evidence:
Before applying, applicants should read the evidence requirements for SAS applicants, qualified advanced practitioner posts on pages 5-7 in the attached application pack. This explains the evidence that will be required and how alternative qualification and sign-off routes will be considered.
You will need to provide evidence that you meet the SAS requirements for appointment as a qualified Advanced Practitioner, through either comparable final sign-off or the portfolio-evidence route described in the recruitment pack.
Posts
We currently have vacancies in:-
Tayside
Fife
Forth Valley
Argyll and Clyde (Paisley)
Ayrshire and Arran (Kilmarnock)
Glasgow
Inverness
The role involves shifts during evenings and weekends, as well as travel across the service area for clinical duties and training. 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
Application and selection guidance
The application includes a 500-word clinical reflection. Please read the reflective writing guidance and assessment criteria in the application pack before submitting your application.
Shortlisting will consider the full application, including the clinical reflection and confirmation of qualification evidence. Shortlisted applicants will be invited to the relevant assessment stages, which include:
Advanced Practice qualification or portfolio review
a fitness assessment, where applicable
an assessment day involving an OSCE and an interview.
OSCE and Interviews will take place on 23 November 2026.
Full details, including confirmed assessment arrangements, are provided in the recruitment pack.
Find out more
For an informal discussion or to ask a question, please contact the Advanced Practice Urgent and Primary Care team: sas.advanced-practitioner-upc@nhs.scot
Please include your preferred location or region in the subject line, so that we can direct your email to the most appropriate team member.
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 The 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.
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.