Under the new collaboration, Derby College Group has firstly launched a short course for adults wanting to apply for Administration and Clerical roles at the Trust.
The three-week programme will start on Monday 25th April with a full week at the Roundhouse followed by one week at University Hospitals of Derby and Burton and then the final week back at the Roundhouse.
Modules will include an introduction into the NHS, on-site work experience placements and accredited qualifications in Customer Service and Digital Skills.
Everyone who completes the course will be guaranteed an interview for an administration role at the Trust.
Moving forward, the two organisations will be working together to ensure Derby College Group students are prepared for administration and clerical roles at the end of their study programmes with the skills, knowledge and support to enable them to apply for full-time roles at the Trust and wider NHS.
Full time students will have the opportunity to complete the short course after they complete their study programmes.
A senior member of the Trust’s Administration team, Mel Palmer, will also work alongside the College curriculum team to support the initiative and also co-design key aspects of a new Management and Administration T-Level qualification which will launch this September.
All students enrolling on the new two-year T-Level will complete work placements at University Hospitals of Derby and Burton and everyone who passes the qualification successfully will be guaranteed a full time or part time job at the Trust.
Derby College Group’s Director of Employer Partnerships Carol Dixon continued: “Derby College Group has worked with the Trust for more than 20 years including developing and delivering a wide range of training programmes for their staff. Hundreds of our Health and Social Care students have also benefited from work placements at the Trust over the years.
“This new collaboration takes our working relationship to the next level with a senior member of their team working to co-design and co-deliver our curriculum to support both our full time students and adult learners into vital roles within the NHS.
“Our goal is to support the NHS’s recruitment goals and to ensure that our students have the knowledge, skills, experience and behaviours to successfully transition into full time roles.”
Head of Patient Access and Administration, Roger McBroom, who initiated this new strategy alongside Learning & Development and Workforce colleagues, added: “With some 700 entry level Administration and Clerical posts across our organisation and a turnover of about 40 staff per quarter, it became obvious that we had to find a new, more efficient approach to securing and training our future administrators and managers and thus this tie up with Derby College Group should go a long way to achieving this.
“I have been hugely impressed by the welcome and support provided by our Derby College Group colleagues as well as the quality of students who have already shown an interest in a future career in the NHS.”
Amanda Rawlings, University Hospital of Derby and Burton’s Chief People Officer, concluded: “This exciting programme to help the NHS to secure future Administration and Clerical workforce, who are critical to our ability to deliver safe patient care, has the potential to make a lasting impact across our organisation by attracting the best people to join #TeamUHDB and also to work in other parts of our NHS and social care services.”
Find out more about the three-week pre-recruitment course starting on Monday April 25.
