As some of the biggest employers in our area, it’s important to us that we help to nurture the next generation of NHS staff and help them to find rewarding careers close to home.
While many people automatically associate our hospitals with clinical roles, there are a wide of opportunities available – and that’s why we’re delighted to have been able to offer work placements to T-Level students with our Estates, Facilities and Development team.
Currently, we have four students working with us across Scunthorpe and Grimsby – and we’ll have another six taking up placements by the end of the year.
As part of our National Healthcare Estates and Facilities Day celebrations, we caught up with 17-year-old Leah Burt and 19-year-old James Clark to find out more.
Coming back for more
It was the last day of her six-month placement when we met up with Leah in the boiler house at the Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital, Grimsby – but she’s enjoyed her time here so much, she’s coming back as a volunteer over the summer.
She said: “I’m doing a T-Level in Maintenance, Installation and Repairs with the Tec Partnership at the Grimsby Institute.
“I hadn’t thought about a career in the NHS before doing the course, but when it came time to consider work placements, it was the first place I thought of.
“One of my tutors used to work here and he said it was a good place to come and do work experience.”
Leah added that one of the biggest benefits of doing her placement with us was the variety.
She said: “I’ll come in in the morning and I’ll find someone to go with for the day and it can be anything from mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and I’ll spend all day with that person, just going with them to the jobs they have to do.
“I know a lot of my friends have kind of got one thing they stick to, so they don’t really know exactly what they want to do, whereas I kind of know now. I definitely prefer the electrical side. I find it a bit more interesting than the mechanical bit.”
Ringing endorsement
Endorsements don’t get much better than this one from first year student James – “I would definitely recommend working at the hospital– in fact I did. There’s two more students who have come through from North Lindsey College to work at the hospital now!”
He is studying for a T-Level in Manufacturing, Installation and Repairs (general mechanics) and is loving his time on placement at Scunthorpe General Hospital.
He said: “I hadn’t thought about the NHS as a career path at all. I didn’t really think about hospitals requiring upkeep. I found out there were placements available with the NHS and I thought that could be really good. It’s a good fit and I am loving it.
“I’ve grown up around Scunthorpe. In fact, I was born at Scunthorpe Hospital., so it’s nice to be part of the team and give something back.
“I’ll shadow somebody for the whole day. I’ll be doing pre-planned maintenance with them, anything that needs doing really.
“I’d like to specialise in the mechanical side – I love doing the mechanical side. I said when I joined I’d like to do that, so when people go on mechanical jobs I go with them and shadow them.
“They’re all fantastic people. They’re all really knowledgeable, really kind, and willing to share their knowledge and teach you, which I find really beneficial.
“The placement structure is very good because I think that’s what companies look for in engineering – they look for pre-existing work experience and if you’ve got that here, it’s fantastic.”
NHS Humber Health Partnership’s Associate Director of Estates and Engineering, James Lewis, believes there are significant benefits to supporting the scheme.
He said: “Heading up the Estates and Engineering department for Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust, now part of the wider NHS Humber Health Partnership, is a privilege in its own right, but then to also have fantastic engagement from two local colleges and be lucky enough to have keen, driven and enthusiastic T-level students take up T-level experiences within my teams is another level.
“It is wonderful to see these young people being able to experience what it is like to maintain a hospital and demonstrate the complexity of it all. This is the start of a great local partnership which will endure and offer, not only succession planning to my workforce, but local engineering career opportunities for local college students.”
