FOI 25-347 RRU Recruitment and Qualifying Criteria
Freedom of Information Request
- Reference
- FOI 25-347 RRU Recruitment and Qualifying Criteria
- Request Date
- 08 Sep 2025
- Response Date
- 02 Sep 2025
- Information Requested
The Scottish Ambulance Service operates Rapid Response Units staffed by Paramedics. Paramedics have to submit a written expression of interest and attend a formal interview when applying for this position.
Please provide me with the job description for this specialized role as well as the criteria or standards used for to assess the expressions of interest as well as the job interviews.
Please also advise me on the type of jobs these units attend and if you can please send me an in-date policy or standard operating procedure on what they can and cannot be send to. I have only been able to find policies that are very overdue for review in my own research
- Response
The Job description used for the Rapid Response Units or Paramedic Response Units is the standard job description used for Ambulance Paramedics. The role is essentially the same other than the vehicle used to attend calls, attending higher acuity incidents and being a lone responder.
The criteria and standards for the interviews for the RRU Paramedic role would follow the guidelines for Interviewing Managers set by The Scottish Ambulance Service. The interview process would be made-up of a panel that consists of three members, an Area Service Manager, Clinical Team Leader and a neutral party; usually a Human Resources representative. There will be 6 questions selected from a bank of interview questions that have been agreed by the panel.
After careful consideration, we are withholding the requested information under Section 30(c) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA). This section exempts information from disclosure where disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice substantially the effective conduct of public affairs.
In this case, we believe that releasing the interview marking criteria and standards could undermine the integrity and fairness of future recruitment exercises. Disclosure may lead to candidates tailoring their responses to anticipated scoring frameworks, thereby compromising the objectivity of assessments and the ability of interview panels to evaluate candidates on merit. This could result in a loss of confidence in the recruitment process and hinder our ability to attract and select the most suitable candidates.
We acknowledge that there is a public interest in transparency and accountability in recruitment practices. However, we consider that the public interest in maintaining the integrity of the recruitment process outweighs the public interest in disclosure. Therefore, we have concluded that the exemption under Section 30(c) applies and that the information should be withheld.
Please see the attached Job Description for an Ambulance Paramedic and the Standard Operating Procedures for the RRU’s and PRU’s; this document also contains a description of the type of incidents these vehicles could be sent to.
- Response Documents
