New recruits boost apprenticeships in healthcare
Posted: 06 March 2019
West Nottinghamshire College is celebrating National Apprenticeship Week this week by officially welcoming the first cohort of health care support workers who are beginning their programmes at Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
New senior healthcare support workers have begun an apprenticeship programme at Sherwood Forest Hospitals. They are pictured with sales partner Ruth Owen (far right) and knowledge specialist for health Marie Pitchford (front, left)
The group began their journey in February on the Level 3 Senior Healthcare Support Worker Apprenticeship. The course is being run in partnership with the hospital and they are the first cohort of staff from the Trust to undertake their Level 3 apprenticeship.
The course has been designed to be a collaborative co-delivery method between Sherwood Forest Hospitals and West Nottinghamshire College to develop close working relationships between the two organisations.
Tutors from the college will be attending the hospital monthly to deliver the underpinning knowledge required for the course and assessors working at the hospital Trust will be providing expert witness testimonies to the college following observation of the learners practice.
The college’s knowledge specialist for health, Marie Pitchford, said: “I’m both proud and excited to be part of this new venture with the hospital. I have met several times with the education team and I know that through the collaborative working plan that we have put together, the project will be a success.
“This apprenticeship will be a great opportunity for the healthcare support workers to further their knowledge base and receive a national qualification.”
Learning and development team leader, Debbie Morris said: “This is a brilliant opportunity for our health care support workers to progress in their roles whilst they are still working.
“We have worked in partnership with the college to ensure that the course is delivered to the required standards whilst also ensuring that it can be realistically completed whilst the students are still working. I look forward to supporting the students and seeing them develop throughout the year.”