Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust has welcomed a significant jump in the number of employees taking up apprenticeship opportunities in 2021 as it celebrates National Apprenticeship Week.
The Trust provides a wide range of apprenticeship programmes that employees can access. Whatever stage a person is at in their career these apprenticeships can help them to progress. There are apprenticeships in health and social care, nursing and occupational therapy, administration, management and senior leadership.
Apprenticeships provide a fantastic opportunity for all employees to build knowledge and skills for specific occupations. Importantly, all the apprenticeships are fully funded so there's no cost to the employee.
The number of people on an apprenticeship programme at Surrey and Borders Partnership was 30 per cent higher in the nine-month period, April to December 2021, compared to thewhole previous financial year. Just under two percent of the 2750 workforce are now enrolled on an apprenticeship programme. Some of our most popular programmes are in nursing where we offer the most opportunities. Employees can start as a Band 2 or Band 3 Healthcare Support Worker and study towards becoming a Band 4 Nursing Associate. They can then progress to the role of Registered Nurse.
Heather Caudle, Chief Nursing Officer at Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, said: “The last two years have been difficult due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the value of the nursing profession has been highlighted. We have a very clear Nursing Career Pathway which enables our Healthcare Support Workers to progress to become Registered Nurses. The Nursing Associate apprenticeship also provides a progression route into graduate level nursing. We work with our partners in the health and care systems, as well as learning providers to continue to ensure that our nursing workforce is highly skilled and have the right values”.
More information about all our apprenticeships can be found here