National Careers Week 2015 - The Digital Guide | Page 28

28 FRIDAY APPRENTICESHIPS MEET NHS CAREERS Did you know there are over 350 different careers on offer in the NHS? The NHS needs everyone from doctors, nurses and midwives to healthcare Scientists, IT staff, gardeners, physiotherapists and secretaries – so with the right skills and values, there really is something for everyone. The NHS offers training through apprenticeships, degree courses and vocational qualifications, so whether your students and clients are just starting out or looking for a career change, NHS Careers has resources to help them make those important decisions. NHS Careers is the information service for anyone interested in a career in healthcare in England. It consists of a website, telephone helpline and a variety of resources to help school students, teachers and careers advisers with careers planning. The resources include useful facts and figures, an annual schools competition, and ‘Real life, your life’ teaching resources to help students prepare for the world of work. With 350 careers on offer, it is no surprise that the NHS is one of the largest employers in Europe. The NHS employs over 1.3million people so it is vital that their staff are well trained to consistently meet patients’ needs. Health Education England (HEE) was established in 2012 to help improve the quality of care by ensuring the NHS workforce has the right numbers, skills, values and behaviours to meet the needs of patients. Each year, HEE produces a Workforce Plan for England which sets out the investments it will make in education and training programmes for the coming year. In December 2014, HEE published its second Workforce Plan for England, covering the period 2015. The plan has been informed by HEE’s Framework 15 (a strategy based upon the needs of future patients) and the Five Year Forward View, a vision for healthcare which HEE contributed to. Key points from the plan include: • 555 additional training places in adult nursing • 161 additional training places in children’s nursing • 100 additional training places in mental health nursing • 115 additional training places in operating department practice • 378 additional places in paramedic training • 190 additional places in Improving Access to Psychological Therapies • 181 additional training places for physician associates • More than 500 additional training places in community- based nursing (including school nurses, practice nurses and district nurses • Increasing the number of GPs HEE also plans to: • Encourage more community and primary care based training such as post registration programmes for nurses • Additional investment in the current workforce, for example enabling further opportunities for career development/training for those in clinical support roles • Ensure that universities running NHS-funded courses assess successful candidates against the values of the NHS Constitution Read HEE’s 2015/16 Workforce Plan for England to find out more about the training places available. Tell your students to visit the NHS Careers website to