Scots student paramedic showers at gym and charges phone at uni due to rising cost of living

06.09.2022 - 09:59 / dailyrecord.co.uk

A trainee paramedic says she has to shower at the gym and charge her phone at university due to the rising cost of living.

Ashely McLeod, 26, spends around 2,000 hours per term on unpaid placements and is also juggling part time shifts on the NHS roster, placement hours and volunteers with emergency first aiders Street Assist. The third year student at Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh lives with three other trainee paramedics and the group have extra costs associated with their course, including travelling to placements and paying for an ambulance driving license.

As reported by Edinburgh Live, Ashley says the group have taken extreme measures to survive - including having their boiler off since July. The student, originally from Dunfermline, said: "It's going to be a really difficult time ahead.

"We have already turned our boiler off because the costs were too high. If we need to wash dishes we boil a kettle every few days and go to the gym to use the showers and wash.

"On top of my degree and placement, I volunteer on weekends and pick up shifts on the NHS bank administering Covid vaccines but it's not consistent and you are competing with everyone across the Lothians to get these shifts."

Ashley takes on volunteer shifts at Street Assist, an Edinburgh charity that takes the pressure of the police and ambulance service by offering medical support to people that find themselves in vulnerable situations across the city centre on weekends.

"I try to do shifts when I can, but can be hard at times with placement and bank work," she said.

"Last year paramedic students have started getting a bursary like student nurses do but since then everything has risen in price so it barely covers rent and living costs."

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Tags: testing volunteers Extreme and Scotland

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