The NHS is the nation’s biggest trainer of apprentices, with more than 20,000 starting each year.
Apprenticeships offer a route into many of the more than 350 NHS careers available. This includes a range of higher or degree apprenticeships (equivalent to foundation, full Bachelor’s or Master’s degrees), including nursing and the Allied Health Professions.
Apprenticeships are a valuable way of learning, developing new skills and gaining new qualifications while working in the role. They are an important way for both new starters to the NHS and existing members of staff to learn on the job, gain a qualification and apply their learning while earning a salary.
One area of the NHS that can be particularly difficult to recruit to is general practice. As part of National Apprenticeships Week, we heard from apprentices based in GP practices across Sussex who are learning on the job and developing their careers.
Karen and Becky work within Lancing PCN and are both studying for apprenticeships as Community Health and Wellbeing Workers.
Their courses are helping to broaden their skills and knowledge in a range of areas of primary care. Karen says:
The best part about the apprenticeship is the ability to directly impact people’s lives in a positive way.
You get to work closely with individuals, learning how to help them improve their mental, emotional, and physical health.
It is satisfying, especially when you can see the progress patients make over time and how the support has helped. Laura started at Rudgwick Medical Centre during the pandemic as a receptionist, quickly learning new skills and moving into a Healthcare Assistant role. Laura is now doing a ‘top up’ apprenticeship to become a Registered Nurse having qualified from a Nursing Associate foundation degree apprenticeship in September.
As a Nursing Associate, I am able to expand my skills in general practice to include administering childhood immunisations, cervical screening sample taking and expand my knowledge of long term healthcare conditions.
As a Registered Nurse Degree Apprentice I am furthering the skills I gained as a Nursing Associate, by learning to assess patients’ needs both acutely and for the long term. I am able to work with my team in order to contribute to care planning.
Knowing that I am furthering my knowledge, which in turn benefits my patients is both motivating and satisfying. My employer is investing in me and assisting me to achieve a qualification, while in turn this makes me feel that I have job security and a long term career path. It is rarely easy to recruit staff in Primary care so knowing that there is longevity from people working their way up has been beneficial to both sides.
The great thing about Nursing is that there are so many opportunities out there and so many different areas of practice that there is always something new to learn and experience. Jana works as a Social Prescriber in the East & Central Brighton Primary Care Network.
She recently started a four year degree apprenticeship in Occupational Therapy and shared her experience of the course so far with us below.
I absolutely love being a student. It is so great to be at the campus two days a week with my student hat on.
I really like all the new learning. The way we learn is really interactive and problem based, meaning we are like little detectives looking at all aspects and gathering all evidence figuring out best next steps.
I have had existing skills, that are transferable, such as building up rapport with patients, note taking, recording, looking at the case holistically and work in a person centred way, but I suppose I have now started to look at things with an bit more of an OT mind, supporting people in achieving what is important to them and how to get there.
It has been brilliant and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to either redirect their career in healthcare or set themselves a new learning challenge.Apprenticeships form a key part of our Sussex People Plan, which commits to developing a more multi-skilled workforce and creating more recruitment and career opportunities, among other objectives.
The plan also focuses on encouraging staff to take a ‘lifelong learning’ approach where people never stop developing their skills throughout their career.
In Sussex, we are working with primary care and other providers to support the prioritisation of apprenticeship programmes which align to roles and skills where there are gaps.
To find out more about apprenticeships within the NHS, visit the Health Careers website.