Northamptonshire NHS Trusts team up with the University to highlight apprenticeship career routes
This National Apprenticeship Week (6th to 12th February) NHS Trusts in Northamptonshire, along with the University of Northampton, are showing their support by highlighting the apprenticeship opportunities within healthcare across the county.
Apprenticeships offer routes into many NHS careers through a mixture of on-the-job training and classroom learning. The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) point to Government stats that say health and science was the 2nd most popular apprenticeship sector in the UK in 2021/22.
They are a great way for people of all ages to start their professional journey, switch careers or progress in their current role. Whether that’s to train as a nurse on an apprenticeship degree or complete a healthcare assistant apprenticeship; or start working in non-clinical areas such as corporate services, catering and business administration.
Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (NHFT) is the biggest healthcare provider in Northamptonshire and offers apprenticeships in both clinical and non-clinical areas, which lead to nationally-recognised qualifications.
Charlotte Smith is a Business Administration Apprentice at NHFT and said,
“I chose to do an apprenticeship as I did not want to go to university, as I didn’t know what career path I wanted to take. I chose NHFT because the Trust offers a wide variety of experiences, which I can now use in my day-to-day job and will be able to use in the future.”
Alice Moore is also a Business Administration Apprentice at NHFT and said:
“I chose to do an apprenticeship as I wanted to improve my skills and gain a qualification at the same time as working. I also wanted a job that would allow me to gain a qualification in an area that could follow me wherever I choose to work.”
To find out about apprenticeships at NHFT click here.
For people considering an apprenticeship degree, the University of Northampton embraces vocational higher education by offering higher and degree apprenticeships. In healthcare they offer a nursing associate (level 5) which on completion students are eligible to register with the Nursing Midwifery Council (NMC) as a Registered Nursing Associate and an MSc advanced clinical practitioner (level 7) for UK registered healthcare professionals with a minimum three years of post-registration experience.
They also have a BSc (Hons) occupational therapy (level 6) apprenticeship which is accredited by the Health and Care Professions Council and the Royal College of Occupational Therapy. All programmes are fully funded and combine working with studying.
Kyrsti Watson qualified as a nurse 11 years ago but decided to go back to university to do the advanced clinical practitioner degree to progress her career. She explains:
“As a health professional, you get to that stage in your career when have to work out whether you want to remain in clinical practice or develop in a more managerial position. I love working clinically, but the apprenticeship is a fabulous opportunity to have a foot in both camps.
“The course is helping me advance my clinical learning and progress my career to a more managerial and strategic one, whilst remaining on ‘the shop floor’. And, as I’ve taken the apprenticeship route, I can continue working. I couldn’t have asked for a better way of doing this. It’s a fabulous opportunity that I feel will yield benefits for my patients as well as helping me feel even more professionally satisfied.”
Another apprenticeship student is Dawn Kennedy who is on the occupational therapy apprenticeship degree and said:
“I wanted to become a qualified Occupational Therapist and was intending to go back to University to gain my qualification. The apprenticeship was introduced at my work and it was the perfect opportunity for me to earn an income, continue in my current role and gain my qualification at the same time.
To find out more about apprenticeships at the University of Northampton click here.
NHFT and the University of Northampton are part of the ‘Best of Both Worlds’ recruitment campaign, along with Kettering General Hospital, Northampton General Hospital, St Andrew’s Healthcare and Northants GP, which aims to recruit nurses, doctors and healthcare professionals to live and work in Northamptonshire. Click here for current apprenticeship vacancies.
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