#NAW24 #SkillsForLife
Apprenticeships for all
Monday 5th February to Sunday 11th February 2024 is National Apprenticeship Week in the UK.
Apprenticeships are open to all. All ages, all sectors, all levels of education, all backgrounds. It doesn't matter if you are just starting out on your health and care career, looking for a career change or looking to develop in your existing career.
An apprenticeship will equip you with the skills employers need and benefit the economy. They provide a route into successful and fulfilling careers and enable you to receive pay while you do so.
Health and care offer apprenticeships at all levels, whether you are just starting out on your career, building on previous learning or looking to advance your skills.
We offer clinical and non-clinical apprenticeships, so no matter what your ambition, we will provide you with the learning you need to get there.
Check out the Academy's Apprenticeship page to find out more.
Search #NAW2024 to join in the conversation
Here are just some of the apprenticeships available in health and care organisations across Kent and Medway:
* Advanced Clinical Practice * Enhanced Clinical Practitioner * Student Nursing Associates * Registered Nurse Degree Apprenticeship * Pharmacy Technician * Pharmacy Services Assistant * Business Administration * Business Admin - Assistant practice Manager * People Professional * Enhanced Clinical Practitioner * Accounts/Finance Assistant * Customer Service Practitioner * Leader/Senior Leader in Adult Care * Business Analyst * Biomedical Science Degree * Coaching * Cardiac Degree * Diagnostic Radiology Degree * Senior Healthcare Support Worker * Midwifery Degree * Occupational Therapist Degree * Pharmacy Technician * Physiotherapy degree * Social Work * Podiatrist * Dietitian * Speech and Language * Operating Department Practitioner * Therapeutic Radiography *
Don't take our word for it!
Below are some stories from Kent and Medway's apprentices where they tell you about their experience undertaking an apprenticeship in health and care.
Tiffany's story - care worker to nursing associate
Hello I’m Tiffany, I joined the care sector when I was 17 after hearing how much my sister enjoyed working in care.
My workplace offered me a level 2 Health & Social Care apprenticeship which I completed whilst working and soon achieved my level 2 Diploma in Health and Social Care.
Eventually I moved jobs to be nearer home and I now work in a nursing home supporting the elderly.
What do you enjoy most about your job? The residents!! I really enjoy getting to know them and building trust. Once you know what each person enjoys and hear about their life story and hobbies this helps to cheer them up and it’s so rewarding knowing that you have made their day. They spend more time with us than their families so we are like extended family to them.
Are there any challenges? It can be busy when we are short staffed but everyone pulls together and teamwork gets us through. After a busy shift is over it feels very rewarding to know that we have managed to support our residents appropriately and what I have done that day has made a difference to our residents everyday life.
What is the next stage of your career? I would love to do some nursing care so undertaking the L4 Nursing Associate apprenticeship would be great. It’s a role that sits between a senior care worker and a qualified nurse.
Any advice to someone considering working in care? Give it a go! Care might be seen as just doing personal care but its so much more than that and you make new friends too. It’s a privilege to care for people, particularly when we care for people nearing their end of their life - we need to make it special for them.
One career pathway example in the care sector - all available via apprenticeships
Visit our Social Care page to find out more about the many different careers available in the care sector.
Simulating success for Suzie
Suzie embarked on her registered nurse degree apprenticeship journey with Kent Community NHS Health Foundation Trust (KCHFT) in February 2023. Fast forward a year and Suzie is relishing the unique learning opportunities.
Suzie, who moved to the UK from Ghana with big dreams of becoming a nurse, said: “It’s been amazing so far and I can’t believe I’m already a year into the four-year course. The best part is being able to learn on the job. It is really helping me gain confidence. I have lots of support from the academy team at the trust, supporting me across my different learning environments, which really reinforces what I am studying in the classroom.”
The clinical academy team at KCHFT supports nursing and allied health professionals across the trust and has played a pivotal role in Suzie's educational journey, giving her access to cutting-edge training technology at the Heathside Centre in Coxheath, Maidstone, home to KCHFT’s first simulation training suite. The advanced technology allows students, like Suzie, to practice and refine their clinical skills on a sophisticated mannequin, whose symptoms are remotely triggered by the training team.
Suzie explained: “It gives us real-life scenarios where we can observe changes in breathing, heart rate, temperature as well as areas of pain, so when we see the warning signs of a condition in a patient, we have the knowledge to deal with it. It’s in a safe setting which really helps me gain so much confidence as a result."
Wendy's story - more than just coaching
“There’s an apprenticeship you may be interested in doing?” said my line manager one day. My first thought was I’m too old (late 40’s) and haven’t got time to do studying around work and family. My interest however was piqued so I read more about the programme and spoke to the Trust apprenticeship lead to see what this would involve. Twenty months later and I can share I passed my Level 5 Coaching apprenticeship and am so glad I pushed my own boundaries and took up the opportunity.
I have been a manager for over 20 years, first of all within the pub industry which was very fast paced and then 11 years as a NHS facilities manager with a large staff group at my local Trust before moving into the world of Organisational Development which is when I started my apprenticeship.
I learnt so much on the programme about what coaching is (and isn’t) and how it so much more than ‘just a conversation’. What makes an apprenticeship so good to do is that you aren’t just studying in a classroom and reading theories, you are also learning on the job, in the real world and this is so impactful. I love the approach of a coaching conversation and that moment when you are truly listening to someone and helping them look within; providing that safe place for them to share and think is a privilege.
Apprenticeships in the health care world don’t have to be clinical - there are so many other apprenticeships that support the wide and varied roles that make up the NHS and I would encourage colleagues to take that leap of faith, believe in yourself – I did and am very grateful for the opportunity to develop my personal skills and behaviours which in turn help me provide a thinking environment for my coachees.
Apprenticeships in Primary Care
National Apprenticeship Week 2023
Hear about the experience of six apprentices working in Hospitals, Community and Care settings in this video celebrating Kent and Medway Apprentices for last year's National Apprenticeship Week 2023.
Kent and Medway Apprenticeship Graduation Ceremony
Every year, we celebrate the successes and achievements of our incredible Apprentices.
Watch this short video celebrating Kent and Medway's Apprenticeship Graduates on 10th October 2022 at Rochester Cathedral.
Want to find out more?
If you are interested in finding out more about developing skills for life through an apprenticeship in health and care, visit our Apprenticeship page to find our more or use this online tool to help you decide what level apprenticeship is right for you.
Alternatively, you can get in touch via the form below and a member of the Academy team will get back to you.