Kettering General Hospital provides a stepping stone into the NHS with new Healthcare Apprenticeship roles

For people looking to start a career in the health service or make a career change in 2021 doing an apprenticeship is an ideal route for joining the NHS. Kettering General Hospital is currently recruiting trainee healthcare assistants offering a fantastic opportunity to study whilst learning, with all course costs paid for and leading to a recognised level three apprenticeship in health.

The healthcare assistant apprenticeship roles are open to anyone of any age (16 years upwards) and have the potential to lead on to a nursing registration for those who have career aspirations to become a nurse. The apprenticeship enables people to gain valuable experience, develop new skills and knowledge, whilst working alongside an established team.

Healthcare assistants support qualified health professionals in ensuring optimal care for patients. Working under supervision they assist with the daily workload within a department with a focus on the learning opportunities to gain relevant work-based learning. The apprenticeship is a fixed-term 13-month contract working full-time 37.5 hours per week.

Kettering General Hospital covers a large part of the Northamptonshire area, with outpatient clinics in Corby, Wellingborough and Rushden, as well as Kettering General itself. The hospital has 600 beds and 17 theatres, employs around 4,000 staff and is one of the largest employers in Northampton.

Rosie Lever is a 21-year-old who has recently completed a year-long trainee healthcare assistant apprenticeship at Kettering General Hospital. Her motivation for choosing this career is that she always wanted to help people and has a very caring nature. The apprenticeship route into the NHS appealed as she wanted to work whilst learning, whilst gaining a recognised qualification.

Rosie says, “I always wanted to work in an environment that looked after and cared for people, regardless of the tasks required. My role is to take care of patients, including feeding them, cleaning them, helping them and generally looking after them. I have gained many skills since starting the apprenticeship including more confidence in communicating with people.

“At first, I was a little bit nervous especially when it came to some of the patients in their beds, and I was concerned that I was not doing things to the correct standards. Now I have much more confidence in myself and things are beginning to be more natural to me.”

Rosie receives a lot of support from those she works with, including her manager who is always there if a problem arises on the ward or if she feels unsure about anything. Rosie’s working week consists of three days in week 1 and two long days and one study day in week 2 and this rotates fortnightly.

Rosie says that she highly recommends an Apprenticeship Programme and has career aspirations to become a paramedic or a midwife. She says, “It’s a wonderful way to get into the working environment of a hospital, where you gain the skills to work correctly and professionally and it helps you achieve what you want but in a nice, controlled way.”

Kettering General Hospital is part of the ‘Best of Both Worlds’ recruitment campaign. The campaign brings together the University of Northampton, Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, Northampton General Hospital, Kettering General Hospital (KGH), St Andrew’s Healthcare and Northants GP and aims to recruit nurses, doctors and healthcare professionals to live and work in Northamptonshire.

The deadline to apply for the trainee healthcare assistant role is 4th March 2021. Click here for more information and to apply.

To find out about vacancies across Northamptonshire visit http://bestofbothworlds.uk.net/

About Lisa Baker, Editor, Wellbeing News 4212 Articles
Editor Lisa Baker is passionate about the benefits of a holistic approach to healing. Lisa is a qualified Vibrational Therapist and has qualifications in Auricular Therapy, Massage, Kinesiology, Crystal Healing, Seichem and is a Reiki Master.