Industry standard health and social care ward for T Level delivery launches at Stoke on Trent College

Stoke on Trent College has launched its brand-new Health & Social Care ward and laboratory, giving students from Level 1 provision through to Level 3 and T-Levels, industry standard facilities to learn for those pursuing a variety of careers in health and social care. It forms part of the Health and Social Care Hub at the college training students to fill the gap in the NHS workforce.

Based at the Cauldon campus, the Health & Social Care ward replicates a clinical setting, giving students and visitors the feel that they are in a real-life environment.

The Health & Social Care ward is part of a £1.5 million investment into its health & social care and broadcast media provisions to support new T-Level courses which have started this academic year and forms part of a much wider capital programme which sees investment of over £19 million across both campuses to future proof teaching and learning spaces.

Part of this investment includes brand new equipment, including VR headsets plus the option to observe real-world care scenarios virtually. The ward also features three life-like dummies who will be used for real procedures including taking bloods, monitoring heart rate, fitting catheters and even in one case, partially showcasing the stages of giving birth. The dolls can also speak via an interactive tablet which allows them to tell students the issue, so they are able to deal with them as they would a live patient.

Lisa Capper MBE, CEO & Principal at Stoke on Trent College said:

“The NHS workforce plan shows that vacancies will rise exponentially if nothing is done to train new and existing staff for clinical settings and settings outside of the NHS. This new ward and our new T Level programmes will produce around 600 professionals a year who are Skills Ready Future Ready, embracing digital and AI technologies, for a range of settings including critical services such as midwifery and adult nursing.

“Working closely with our partners at the University Hospital of North Midlands, University of Staffordshire, Stoke-on-Trent City Council and North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust, we are looking to create the health and social care workforces of tomorrow, whatever area learners want to go into.

Ben Richards, Chief Operating Officer, at North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust added,

“We are delighted to be working in partnership with Stoke on Trent College as they open the new health and social care ward on their Cauldon Campus.

“As part of this, Combined Healthcare will be providing placements for students studying T-levels with the College and we hope that this will give the College the support it needs in terms of working across the community of Stoke-on-Trent as well as helping to develop the future healthcare workforce in the years to come.”

Peter Tomlin, Director of Adult Social Care, Health Integration and Wellbeing at Stoke-on-Trent City Council said: “I am delighted to see this new Health & Social Care ward launching at Stoke-on-Trent College.

“The brand-new facilities reflect the latest advances in technology and replicate the realities of being in a clinical setting. These will be amazing educational tools for students looking to pursue a career in health and social care.

“By catering for a range of levels and careers, this will only help Stoke-on-Trent’s future workforce in this sector to succeed and I cannot wait to see the qualifications and future careers achieved by students who have studied in this new ward.”