Students visit hospital to learn about careers with NHS
We welcomed a number of year 10 ambassadors from Barnsley schools on 14 November 2018 at our Fieldhead Hospital headquarters.
The Made in Barnsley Programme is an expansion of the successful Sheffield Cutler’s Better Learners, Better Workers Programme which currently works with 30 Secondary schools in the Sheffield City Region. Building on the success of Sheffield, Barnsley Healthcare Federation launched the Made in Barnsley project, which will link Healthcare, Engineering and Construction sectors with schools and provide successful students with opportunities to become better prepared for the world of work and ultimately more successful in their lives. It connects an employment sector to a group of schools.
In Barnsley these schools currently are; Darton Academy, Dearne ALC, Horizon Community College, Holy Trinity and Penistone Grammar School. This allows a range of employers to contribute and allows schools a wider link to employers in the local community.
In Barnsley these schools are currently Darton Academy, Dearne ALC, Horizon Community College, Holy Trinity and Penistone Grammar School. This allows a range of employers to contribute and allows schools a wider link to employers in the local community.
The ambassadors in their second year of the programme had all chosen to follow the healthcare work stream, which the Trust is running in conjunction with Barnsley Healthcare Federation. They started their day with a visit to the Trust’s mental health museum, where they gained an insight into the history of mental health care.
As part of the day, the ambassadors had a question and answer session with the Trust’s chief executive Rob Webster. Rob explained how he had joined the health service, his previous roles and what his job as chief executive entails.
Next it was onto Yorkshire Smokefree where the ambassadors learned about the dangers of smoking, as well as how the team support people to quit.
The ambassadors finished their day with a visit to the clinical skills training room to learn basic life support/resuscitation skills. Everyone was able to understand how to keep an airway open and revive a dummy person.
Trudy Warner, Business Operations Officer, has been working with young people as part of the programme. She said: “This is the second year that we have welcomed ambassadors. In particular they were very interested to hear about the history of mental health care in our region, from the historic asylums to today’s modern state of the art buildings where people are treated in a dignified way with care and compassion. We hope that our ambassadors will consider a career with the NHS and by coming here they were able to see all of the different types of jobs available – not just doctors and nurses, but all of the support staff that help front line professionals deliver health care to people in Barnsley.”