Case Study

Prior to starting the Level 3 NHS Apprenticeship programme, Gavin had been working as a level 2 dispenser in a community pharmacy for over a year, before which he had undertaken a full-time course at college.His community pharmacy employer recommended the Pre-registration trainee pharmacy technician programme, which he subsequently started at Sheffield College. While the course came highly recommended, he states that he gained more from it than initially expected.

Emma Handley is one of our latest trainees to complete the two year NHS Pre-Registration Trainee Pharmacy Technician programme and she took the time to share some of her experiences.

In 2012, The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust rolled out values-based competency interview questions for recruitment to clinical roles. These were developed by the Human Resources (HR) Department, to support recruiting managers and help ensure that new recruits exhibit and share the Trust’s five core values; caring, dignity, respect, openness and pride.These core values were developed by the staff in order to localise the NHS Constitution and provide the guiding principles that underpin everything the Trust does.

Mersey Care NHS Trust has an ambition to be recognised as the leading organisation in the provision of mental health care, addiction services and learning disability care, with quality, recovery and wellbeing at the heart of everything it does. As such the Trust has completely transformed its staff induction process, developing a unique programme in January 2014 that focuses on embedding its culture and values into the hearts and minds of staff.

In 2013 the clinical skills and simulation team at the Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust (PAHT) reviewed their existing training package regarding medicines management. Concerns were raised when some members of staff, who had made drug errors on the wards, were merely referred back to the same theoretical session they would have had previously. Impact evaluations revealed that existing theoretical sessions alone did not identify and challenge poor practice or reflect the drug errors happening in clinical practice.

Healthcare Science Apprenticeships The scheme created by Health Education Yorkshire and the Humber to develop a new training route for Bands 2 - 4 in Healthcare Science. Apprentice medical laboratory assistants, Rachel Taylor and Nathan Baldwin, work for laboratory medicine while Amy Bond and Amy Martin have been assigned to both Neurophysiology and Cardio-Respiratory in a brand new apprenticeship role.

In 2011 East Cheshire NHS Trust, together with Eastern Cheshire Clinical Commissioning Group (ECCCG), Cheshire & Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and Cheshire East Council formed a partnership to facilitate integrated care for the population of East Cheshire.The Eastern Cheshire ‘Transforming Workforce in Partnership’ (TWIP) project now forms the initial work programme of the over arching Leadership, OD & Workforce workstream of the integrated care programme.

The role of care and comfort assistant was introduced as a twelve month pilot scheme in May 2013 at the Countess of Chester NHS Foundation Trust. The Countess of Chester’s Planned Care Division has employed six new members of staff to improve care and comfort for patients and their families.They are known within the division as the ‘Countess Six’, as their role was developed to reflect the six fundamentals of care known as the 6Cs; Care, Compassion, Competence, Communication, Courage and Commitment.

Tackling Youth UnemploymentWith the aim of tackling youth unemployment head on, The Prince’s Trust has recently launched a new initiative aimed at supporting young people into the many and varied opportunities which exist in the health and social care sectors. "Get into the NHS" is an intensive short course offering formal training, work experience; personal development and progression mentoring to young people aged 16-25.

Aintree University NHS Foundation Trust, in collaboration with Edgehill University has developed a Supporting Learners in Practice (SLiP) multi-professional workshop which is designed to prepare clinical staff to support students within the work environment. This workshop is delivered to a wide range of staff from nurses through to dieticians, radiologists, scientists, physiotherapists, speech andlanguage therapists, and assistant practitioners.SLiP workshops aim to provide clinical staff with the necessary skills to support learners in practice.