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Almost 200 Australian paramedics have been drafted in to work in London in a bid to alleviate chronic staff shortages.

Around 175 medics have been recruited from cities such as Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne and Brisbane as the London Ambulance Service tries to cope with dwindling staff levels.

An LAS spokesman confirmed a "shortage of UK staff" in the NHS was the reasoning behind the move.

According to recent figures from the Health Service Journal, some NHS trusts have been operating with vacancy rates as high as one in four, leaving ambulance services to head abroad to find staff.

Mitchell Hand, a graduate paramedic from Sydney set to treat patients on the road today, said he saw London "as a great place to start my career".

"It’s the busiest ambulance service in the world and there are many different opportunities such as working on a motorbike, cycle or car or for the hazardous area response team, which we don’t get back home," he added.

The Service's Director of Operations Jason Killens said the scheme had been a "success" and confirmed they would be going back to Australia in March to look at more potential candidates.

It comes as paramedics and hospital staff are set to go ahead with a 12-hour strike on Thursday in a row over pay.