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Heartbeat: Adapting apprenticeships in a pandemic

September 20, 2021

Across the Trust, both clinical and non-clinical teams have adapted their ways of working due to the COVID-19 pandemic and this is no different for our widening participation apprenticeship team.

On the evening of Monday 23 March 2020, Prime Minister Boris Johnson delivered a speech which would change the day-to-day operations at SWB including our apprenticeship team. A lockdown was announced and people were only able to leave their homes for basic necessities. This meant during the last 18 months, the apprenticeship team have had to totally adapt and create new ways of working.

“Before COVID-19 we used to offer mainly classroom based teaching with a lot of face-to-face support and coaching, but due to social distancing measures this has had to drastically change,” said Maxine Griffiths, Widening Participation Manager/ Apprenticeship Lead.

“Despite this, the team rose to the challenge and have adapted with no fuss, which has ensured people have continued to thrive at learning. Despite limited face-to-face contact, ongoing online and digital support has been available to all our apprentices.”

Our apprentice team play a key role in improving our workforce by upskilling which in part saves the Trust money in terms of recruitment. It encourages promotion and progression from within and gives many younger people and older people alike, an opportunity to flourish and grow and really advance their career and skills.

In addition to this, one of the initiatives the team recently worked on was Apprenticeship Week which profiled the successes of apprentices across the Trust and gave them a platform to showcase the exceptional support and value that they bring to the Trust.

Our apprentices are great – the stats don’t lie.

Between September 2018 – April 2021, despite the pandemic the team have had:

  • 60 people get their Level 2 Healthcare Support Worker
  • 7 people get their Level 3 Senior Healthcare Support Worker
  • 16 people get their Level 3 Business Administration
  • 8 people get their Level 2 Customer Service Practitioner
  • 28 people get their Level 3 Team Leader
  • And many of these people got Distinctions also and this number continues to grow month by month.

From a recently conducted survey by the team it was found that:

  • Would recommend SWB Training Provider to a friend.
  • Feel they get the support they need.
  • Feel they are given feedback to help them improve.
  • Feel they are treated fairly by SWB Training Provider staff.
  • Feel SWB Training Provider has created a safe, disciplined and positive environment for them to learn.

Do you feel you are ready to upskill yourself? Why not consider an apprenticeship? We are currently planning a range of apprenticeship programmes using a blended learning approach of online and remote training delivery methods. We have a variety of apprenticeships available across both Level 2 and 3 and more importantly, the cost for the apprenticeships will be funded through the apprenticeship levy.

For more information about apprenticeships please email swbh.apprenticeship@nhs.net.