Become an health and care ambassador

An ambassador role can provide opportunities for you to develop skills in leadership, mentoring and coaching, which may support your personal career development plan. It can also contribute towards your CPD (continuing professional development).

It is also an opportunity to see your career journey through another’s eyes and use your story to connect with others.

You will be helping to attract and inspire the workforce of tomorrow, promoting all career choices across all sectors of health and care.

Many young people, students or jobseekers are not aware of the 350+ careers in health or the many different roles available in social care, or not aware of the different places they can work. Some may not know that they can become a registered nurse through an apprenticeship route. Sharing this information supports the academy’s widening participation agenda, enabling people from all backgrounds and situations to access health and care careers. By being a part of this, you will be creating social value within your local community.

The academy are aware that there are existing ambassador schemes or arrangements already in play. The Kent and Medway health and care ambassador network was designed to complement these existing networks, so that you can do both if you would like to.

This means you can continue your current arrangement, and additionally sign up for the K&M Ambassador Network. The benefit of joining the K&M Ambassador Network is the support, tools and resources offered, as well as ambassador recognition schemes, and being a part of a large, whole-system service.

The time commitment required to register with our network is for you to attend one careers engagement event per year, so it will not take up all of your time.

Being a health and care careers ambassador does not have to be a huge time commitment.

We ask that all of our ambassadors commit to attending at least one careers event per year to remain an active member of the ambassador network. You can work with your organisation's careers lead to find events or engagement requests that suit your personal interests, and there are resources and support available for you to use whilst you undertake your chosen activity.

Unfortunately, the Academy cannot cover any expenses such as travel or time costs. Ambassadors who register with our scheme do so on a voluntary basis and agree to perform careers engagement activity in their own time.

We encourage our ambassadors to talk to their line managers and share that they have joined the service. Ambassador work has many benefits such as developing skills in public speaking, presenting, leadership, coaching and mentoring which may count towards continuous personal development. It is up to your line manager's discretion and local employer policy as to whether they can release you to perform ambassador activity during working hours.

Once you register, your organisational careers lead will be notified, and you will have access to the Kent and Medway health and care ambassadors NHS Futures network, where you can find information and guidance, as well as opportunities to contact other ambassadors and share your experiences and learning.

The academy will work with you and your careers lead to find a suitable event or engagement opportunity. You can attend as many events or respond to as many requests as you wish.

You can contact the academy team at any time by emailing us or through the discussion forums on the NHS Futures network. We appreciate your engagement and feedback. It helps us to understand what we can do to support you. The academy will continually review and improve the service with the aim to deliver high-quality, meaningful careers engagement.