Why a paramedic packed up his family’s life in Scotland and moved to Australia

A Scottish paramedic who turned his back on Britain’s National Health Service for a better life in Australia can now play the bagpipes on the beach next to his four-bedroom home.

Darren O’Hare, 38, originally from Fife, worked as a paramedic for the Scottish Ambulance Service in the Forth Valley region for 10 years, but now earns thousands of dollars more as an Australian paramedic in a ‘nicer’ working environment.

Mr O’Hare said he had an “enjoyable” experience in the NHS, but it also brought “challenges” – especially during the pandemic.

The father of three had dreamed of moving to Australia with his wife Susan, 39, for 15 years before they finally made the journey.

In June this year, Darren, his wife, their three daughters – Carmen, 21, Ellie, 15, and Keira, 12 – and their dog Finlay moved from their three-bedroom home in Grangemouth to Perth.

His salary excluding overtime has risen from around £48,000 in the UK (AU$93,300) to AUD$109,000 (£56,000), despite being a manager in Scotland and a ‘low level’ paramedic in Perth.

The family is renting a four-bedroom house near the beach for $680 a week while they wait for permanent residency and the sale of their old home.

Mr O’Hare said there was “no chance” they could have afforded a comparable property in Scotland.

Ms O’Hare has also noticed a difference between working conditions in the NHS and health services in Australia. She says her colleagues seem ‘happier’ and there is less ‘stress’, despite the similar challenges they face.

He also feels his quality of life has improved, allowing him and his wife to give their three daughters “the best chances in life.”

“I don’t like to talk negatively about Scotland and I’m incredibly proud of the Scots, but for me the most important thing is to open my curtains and see a clear, sunny sky. It lifts my mood,” O’Hare told PA Real Life.

‘When we finish work, we go to the beach. We live right by the beach and have booked several trips to see wildlife, like dolphins, whales and things like that.

‘Western Australia is a huge place and there is so much more to do. The world is your oyster.’

Darren served in the British Army for almost twelve years from the age of sixteen. He worked as a mechanic for the first five years, after which he transferred to the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards. There he worked on battle tanks and as a piper. He also joined the pipe band as a regimental piper.

In 2014 he joined the Scottish Ambulance Service, where he worked as an ambulance technician for four years. In 2018 he qualified as a paramedic.

Darren described his time in the NHS as ‘enjoyable’, but also said it came with challenges.

“In December 2019, I was promoted to team leader and became a frontline supervisor. Five months later, we were up to our ears in a pandemic,” he says.

‘It was a wild time to be a supervisor, it was very challenging because of Covid.

‘But in the end, 10 years and 3 months, it was a really nice experience and I worked with really good people.’

Darren was first inspired to move to Australia when he was in the army and a possible transfer to the Australian Army was announced, but that transfer ultimately fell through.

When Mr O’Hare started working as a paramedic, he reconsidered the idea of ​​moving Down Under. He said he had applied to or contacted every ambulance service in Australia and New Zealand, but was told they had to prioritise their own residents first.

In 2022, a colleague told him that St John Ambulance Western Australia was looking for international candidates and Darren said their dream had been ‘brought back to life’.

He applied for a position within the ambulance service in December 2022 and was hired in December 2023. They moved in June of this year.

He said the process of obtaining visas for the family, enrolling his two youngest daughters in new schools and selling their property in Scotland had been “stressful” and time-consuming.

After putting their three-bedroom home in Scotland on the market in February, the sale has fallen through twice and they are still waiting for it to close before they can begin the process of obtaining permanent residency in Australia.

He said they will buy a house once everything is finalized.

“It was a very long process but the house is the last link (to the UK),” Mr O’Hare said, adding that the family is now well settled into work and school in Australia.

While waiting for the sale of their home to close, the family rents a four-bedroom, two-bathroom house with a large backyard and a theater room near the beach.

“There’s no way I could afford a house like that in Scotland,” he said, adding that he and his wife both earned a good income at home.

‘The house we lived in was too small for the five of us and our dog. We needed a bigger house, but we couldn’t afford it.

“We now hope to be able to buy something similar in Australia, or perhaps something even bigger.”

Darren has noticed some differences between the UK and Australian healthcare systems when it comes to his pay, morale among his colleagues and the cohesion between the hospital and ambulance staff.

“For the past three years I’ve been a manager in Scotland… I now earn more as a junior paramedic here in Australia,” he said.

Darren will also receive a pay rise in the coming weeks as he applies to have his years as a paramedic recognised and progress through the ranks.

“We all have bad days at work and there are challenges, there’s no denying that, but everyone seems to be taking it in their stride and there seems to be a lot less stress,” he said.

‘It feels like there is much more collaboration between the ambulance and the hospitals. I can only speak from my own experience, but on a recent shift I spent a lot of time waiting to transfer patients, but there was no stress.

‘Nothing annoys managers or hospital staff, everyone understands the situation and we are all working on it as best we can. I think everyone is just a little happier because of it.’

He also feels that his quality of life has improved because he goes to the beach more often and there are more activities he can do with his family.

“We want to give the girls the best opportunities in life,” he said.

‘Ideally, we would have done it 10 years ago, when we had a 10-year-old, a 5-year-old and a 3-year-old, when everything would have gone smoothly.

‘Everything we get here is much better than what we had in Scotland.’