Work Experience team wins regional award for giving students 'stepping stone' into career at UHDB
Congratulations to University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust's (UHDB) Work Experience team for winning a regional award for their work with local education providers to offer students a chance to experience what it is like to work at the Trust and in the NHS.
The team were named regional T Level Employer of the Year at the National Apprenticeship and Skills Awards 2024, led by the Department for Education, to recognise their ongoing work to help those studying at T Level, which is a new qualification that launched in 2022. T Levels are two-year courses for young people who have completed their GCSEs and are equivalent to three A Levels. T Levels were developed to give young people the skills and knowledge to either pursue further education, an apprenticeship or enter the workforce.
As part of plans to continually grow our workforce and offer a glimpse into working at our organisation for our future workforce, the team offer students the opportunity to come and work in both clinical and non-clinical roles across our hospitals in the hope of them returning to a full-time role once they are qualified.
Alice Dalton, Work Experience Facilitator, said the T Level acts as a 'stepping stone' for young people who want to get into employment and is mutually beneficial for colleagues at the Trust.
She said: "T Levels are very up and coming and they work as a stepping stone into an apprenticeship or into employment with the Trust enabling our future workforce to get the skills they need to either go to university, start an apprenticeship, or an entry level position within the organisation.
"We aim to get them work ready, giving them mock interviews and offering ongoing support to help them reach their potential."
The programme is a new initiative that was introduced after the team were asked if the Trust could provide a programme to support their students. Since then, the team has worked with providers including Derby College, Burton College and South Staffordshire College to offer the opportunity to students who have an interest in joining the health profession in areas such as nursing, physiotherapy, laboratory science, business and digital services.
Alice added: "We kind of had to start it from scratch because it is not something a lot of other Trusts are doing but we could clearly see what the benefits would be for these individuals and our wider organisation, and we wanted to help lead the way.
"What is shining through in the applications is that we're not just taking on students that are interested in nursing, but we have also had a lot of interest in non-clinical roles which is really positive."
As part of the scheme, the team have also launched the role of 'Future Workforce champions' who are supporting the students through their time at UHDB.
Rebekah Booth, Project Officer, said the team is already seeing the impact of working as a T-Level employer.
She said: "We are now seeing students coming through the doors as trainees and apprentices after finishing their course. It's a real benefit to the departments because if somebody comes in and thrives, it's less of a risk for colleagues taking them on in a permanent position, while giving these young people the tools to go on to higher education with hands-on experience.
"This scheme really shows the importance of bringing people in and growing our own and what's nice is that we are supporting students from our local communities."
The hard work of the team has seen the programme go from strength to strength and Rebekah said the award is recognition of how the team has worked innovatively and collaborated with others to be able to offer this programme at UHDB.
She said: "We were over the moon just to be shortlisted so when we found out we won regionally we were so happy and proud. It’s a privilege to be able to do the work we do but to have it recognised and to shine a light on the fantastic work of our team is just really special."
The team will now attend a national ceremony in London on 27 November to find out if they are the overall winners of their category.
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