A Scottish paramedic who left the UK’s National Health Service for a better life in Australia can now play the bagpipes on the beach outside his four-bedroom home.
Darren O’Hare, 38, from Fife, worked as a paramedic for the Scottish Ambulance Service in the Forth Valley area for 10 years but now earns thousands more as an Australian paramedic in a “happier” working environment.
Mr O’Hare had a “pleasant” experience in the NHS, but it had its “challenges”, especially during the pandemic.
The father of three shared the dream of moving to Australia with his wife Susan, 39, for 15 years before they finally made the trip.
In June this year, Darren, his wife, three daughters (Carmen, 21, Ellie, 15, and Keira, 12) and their dog Finlay left their three-bedroom home in Grangemouth and moved to Perth.
His salary before overtime has risen from around £48,000 in the UK (AU$93,300) to AUD$109,000 (£56,000), despite the fact that he was a manager in Scotland and is a “lower-level” paramedic in Perth.
The family is renting a four-bedroom house near the beach for $680 a week while they wait to obtain permanent residency and the sale of their old home is completed.
Mr O’Hare said there was “no chance” they could afford a similar property in Scotland.
Darren O’Hare (pictured) worked as a paramedic for the Scottish Ambulance Service in the Forth Valley area for 10 years, but now earns thousands more as an Australian paramedic.
In June this year, Darren, his wife and three daughters (pictured together) left their three-bedroom home in Grangemouth and moved to Perth.
Ms O’Hare has also noticed a difference between working conditions in the NHS and the health service in Australia, saying 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 chance at life.”
“I don’t like to speak ill of Scotland and I’m very proud of the Scots, but for me one of the most important things is to open the blinds and see a bright, sunny sky – it lifts your spirits,” O’Hare told PA Real Life.
‘We finish work and go to the beach, we live right on the beach and we’ve booked several trips to see wildlife, dolphins, whales, things like that.
‘Western Australia is a huge place and there’s so much more to do – the world is your oyster.’
Darren is enjoying a better life in Australia and can now play the bagpipes on the beach (pictured) next to his four-bedroom home.
Darren’s salary (pictured working for the NHS) before overtime has increased from around £48,000 in the UK (approximately AUD$93,300) to AUD$109,000 (approximately £56,000).
Darren spent almost 12 years in the British Army from the age of 16, working for the first five years as a mechanic before transferring to the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards where he worked on battle tanks and as a piper and joined the pipe band as regimental piper.
He joined the Scottish Ambulance Service in 2014, working as an ambulance technician for four years before qualifying as a paramedic in 2018.
Darren described his time in the NHS as “enjoyable” but said it had its challenges.
“In December 2019 I was promoted to team leader as a frontline supervisor and obviously five months after that we were neck deep in a pandemic,” he said.
‘Being a supervisor during that period was crazy, it was a really big challenge because of Covid.
“But in the end, 10 years and three months, it was a really nice experience and I worked with some really good people.”
Darren was first inspired to move to Australia by a possible transfer during his time in the Australian Army, which ultimately fell through.
The father-of-three said he had shared the dream of moving to Australia with his wife Susan (pictured together) for 15 years before they finally made the trip.
Darren said his family (pictured together) has adjusted well to work and school in Australia.
Mr O’Hare again considered moving Down Under when he became a paramedic, saying he applied or contacted every ambulance service in Australia and New Zealand but was told they would have to favour their residents first.
In 2022, a colleague told him that St John Ambulance Western Australia was looking for international applicants and Darren said his dream was “re-ignited”.
He applied for a position within the ambulance service in December 2022 and was accepted in December 2023 and moved in June this year.
She said the process of obtaining visas for the family, enrolling her two youngest daughters in new schools and selling her property in Scotland had been “stressful” and time-consuming.
After putting their three-bedroom home in Scotland up for sale in February, the sale has fallen through twice and they are still waiting for it to be completed before they can begin the process of obtaining permanent residency in Australia.
He said they will buy a house once everything is finished.
“It was a long and complicated process, but home is the last link (to the UK),” O’Hare said, adding that the family has adapted well to work and school in Australia.
After putting her three-bedroom home in Scotland (pictured) up for sale in February, the sale has been cancelled twice.
While they wait for the sale of their home in Scotland to be completed, the family are renting a four-bedroom property in Perth (pictured) with a large backyard and a cinema room. It is also close to the beach.
While they wait for the sale of their home to close, the family is renting a four-bedroom, two-bathroom property with a large backyard and a movie theater near the beach.
“There’s no way I could afford a house like this in Scotland,” he said, adding that both he and his wife earned good incomes back home.
‘The house we lived in was too small for us, the five of us plus our dog, and we needed a bigger house but couldn’t afford to buy one.
‘We hope to buy something similar now in Australia, or even bigger.’
Darren has noticed some differences between the UK and Australian health services in terms of his pay, morale among his colleagues and cohesion between hospital and ambulance crews.
“I was a manager for the last three years in Scotland… I now earn more as a junior paramedic here in Australia,” he said.
Darren will also be receiving a pay rise in the coming weeks as he can apply to have his years as a paramedic recognised and move up the ranks.
“We all have bad days at work and there are challenges here, there’s no denying that, but everyone seems to take it in stride and there seems to be a lot less stress,” he said.
‘There seems to be a much more collaborative approach between the ambulance and the hospitals, and I can only go by my experience, but on a recent shift I spent a lot of time waiting to hand over patients, but there’s no stress.
“There is no problem on the part of the hospital management or staff, everyone understands the situation and we are all working to resolve it as best we can; I think everyone is a little happier for it.”
Darren (pictured) said of his work in Australia: “I was a manager for the last three years in Scotland… I now earn more as a junior paramedic here in Australia.”
Darren described the process of obtaining visas for the family (pictured), enrolling his daughters in new schools and selling their property in Scotland as “stressful”.
She also feels that her quality of life has improved with regular trips to the beach and more activities to do as a family.
“We want to give girls the best chance in life,” she said.
‘Ideally, we would have done it 10 years ago, when we had a 10-year-old, a five-year-old and a three-year-old, if everything had coincided.
“Everything they offer us is much better than what we had in Scotland.”