That is the message from leaders of West Nottinghamshire College, Nottingham Trent University (NTU) and Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
It followed a visit by the hospital trust’s acting chief executive Dr David Selwyn and acting chair Graham Ward to the college and to NTU’s healthcare training centre this week (Monday 21 October).
Dr Selwyn and Mr Ward were given a tour of the college’s Derby Road and Chesterfield Road campuses by principal and chief executive Andrew Cropley to see the state-of-the-art facilities that equip students to work in the health and care sectors.
Starting at Derby Road, they saw the college’s recently upgraded Robin Hood Ward – a simulated clinical environment where T-Level Health students undertake practical learning in a realistic setting. The ward boasts the latest equipment including robotic patients with artificial intelligence to help learners practise their skills, and an interactive digital dissection table that teaches them about body and skeletal systems in 3D.
This was followed by a visit to NTU’s Centre for Health and Allied Professions, located on the Derby Road site, to see the university’s own hi-tech virtual hospital wards where undergraduates are training to become the healthcare professionals of tomorrow.
Next was a visit to the college’s computer science department to learn about the technology at students’ disposal and the chance for them to progress into IT roles within the health service, either directly or through NTU’s new higher education programme in this field.
Dr Selwyn and Mr Ward were then shown the college’s simulated nursery, where education and early years students experience a childcare setting that mirrors industry and where curriculum teams in the college and university work closely to ensure learners have a seamless progression between both institutions.
At the Chesterfield Road campus, they saw construction work on the Future Tech Skills and Knowledge Exchange. Due to open in summer 2025, the £8.8 million hub will prepare students for jobs in emerging industries, with a strong focus on innovation and science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) subjects. It will also enable local businesses to benefit from NTU’s extensive network of employer partners through knowledge-exchange programmes.
Their visit ended with a tour of the sixth-form college on the site, including its suite of science laboratories for students on A-Level and diploma courses.
In between the site tours, Dr Selwyn and Mr Ward took part in a roundtable discussion with college and university leaders to explore future projects and ways to further build on the partnership’s many strengths.
Joint working between the three organisations is already providing ever-increasing opportunities for people to train for rewarding occupations in the health and care sectors through further and higher education courses, apprenticeships and work placements.
Together, they have run a series of ‘Step into the NHS’ events, aimed at promoting the various job roles available in the area’s hospitals and the educational routes towards them.
In addition, college students with additional needs have the chance to undertake a year-long supported internship programme at King’s Mill Hospital to gain confidence and employability skills so they are ready for the workplace.
Meanwhile, students on its T-Level in Health course are undertaking long-term industrial placements at the hospital, under the supervision of a nurse jointly employed by both partners, while their apprenticeship pathways also continue to grow.
There are now plans to create work experience opportunities for sixth-form students, with discussions also underway to explore potential placements in building services and property maintenance within the hospital and its facilities management provider Skanska to expose students to some of the non-clinical roles essential to patient care.
The college and NTU are also seeking to support the Trust in its workforce planning for the Community Diagnostic Centre currently under construction at Mansfield Community Hospital. Once built, the new facility will serve as a one-stop shop for patients across Nottinghamshire to access tens of thousands of health checks and tests, reducing referral times and enabling patients to receive diagnoses more swiftly.
Mr Cropley said: "I thoroughly enjoyed showing David and Graham around parts of our college and the NTU centre on our campus. They saw first-hand our simulated wards and heard about our T-Level Health students undertaking their extended work placements at King’s Mill Hospital, as well as our adult Access to Higher Education students who have already progressed into nursing roles there through NTU’s degree programme.
“We also discussed how we might support the Trust in creating a future workforce in science and computer science, as well as in wider health professions such as sonography or radiography.
“Our partnership with Sherwood Forest Hospitals is invaluable to us and our students, and it was great to explore how we might make ever more of this going forward, to the benefit of the communities we both serve.”
Dr Selwyn said: “Our visit was aimed at building on our longstanding relationship with West Notts College and seeing the work we've been doing together to develop the T-Level training programme and the investment the college has made, along with its strong partnership with Nottingham Trent University.
“It was interesting to look at the development of their training wards, virtual capability and other aspects of technology, and see the training that West Notts provides in conjunction with NTU.
“I was very impressed by the developments that have taken place and the phenomenal difference that investment can make for the students of today and the workforce of tomorrow.
“We are looking to develop this further to ensure that students have a seamless journey to a meaningful career.
“It's about strengthening how Sherwood Forest Hospitals can work with the college and NTU to develop something truly special here in mid-Nottinghamshire. As a major employer across Mansfield and Ashfield, there is a real opportunity for us to do that.”
Mr Ward said: “Although we’ve been working with West Notts College and NTU for some time now, it was extremely valuable to see what the environment looks like for students.
“As one of the largest employers in the area, there are a lot of opportunities within the Trust, in completely different areas of work.
“By working closely with our local education-providers, we can look at how we provide our local population with employment that encourages them to stay in the area, which also helps sustain the hospital and all the facilities we have.”
Mr Ward added: “The partnership can only go from strength to strength. A lot of our discussions were about how we achieve that.
“Whether it’s supporting our Community Diagnostic Centre or digital innovation, this is about enabling people to come through a high-quality educational route and, hopefully, on to employment with Sherwood Forest Hospitals.”
Katie Kerry, head of operations at NTU’s Mansfield Hub, said: "We were thrilled to welcome David and Graham. Their visit gave us the opportunity to showcase our state-of-the-art facilities, emphasising the inspiring environment we provide to support our students' learning.
“We also had an exciting discussion on how we can further collaborate to benefit the local community by facilitating pathways into higher education."