DHU Health Care is celebrating how apprentices benefit their business during National Apprenticeship Week (3 – 9 February).
The organisation has been working with Learning Unlimited for 2 years to help them develop apprenticeship programmes to train staff and provide effective ways for people to develop their careers.
Lisa Wallis, Director of Human Resources & Organisational Design at DHU Health Care said:
“DHU is proud to support the apprenticeships scheme and we value the contribution our apprentices make within DHU. It’s great to see our new colleagues flourish and thrive within the workplace, growing in confidence as well as gaining new skills and experiences. Our apprentice programme within DHU has been very successful and the learning that DHU has taken from the apprentices’ has helped shape organisational policy and procedure.”
The DHU apprentices are promoting the role they play in the organisation to raise awareness of how important apprenticeships are. They are sharing their experiences of how they are working towards nationally recognised qualifications at the same time as developing the skills they need for a successful career.
Annabelle Martin, a Level 4 business administration apprentice and junior PA at DHU, told us:
“I have been surprised by the variety of tasks that I do as part of my apprenticeship. I actually have a lot more responsibility than I was expecting and I work on some interesting projects. I run the friends and family test for all of Derbyshire which involves lots of organising and running meetings. I never get bored!
“After I finished my A Levels I was planning to go to university but I decided that it wasn’t the route for me. I didn’t know about university-level apprenticeships at the time but I am really happy that I have the opportunity to study this way and I am looking forward to developing my career with DHU.”
Cerys Addis, is a Level 4 business administration apprentice working in NHS 111 Human Resources. She said:
“A big part of my job is to do all the pre-employment checks for all the clinical advisors and remote clinicians who work all over the country. Having this amount of responsibility and doing tasks that you know are vital for the organisation really help you to feel like an integrated member of the team. It also helps you to get the evidence you need to achieve your qualifications. It is so easy to relate what you are doing day-to-day with the different modules of the apprenticeship.”
Ebony Reeve, Level 3 business administration apprentice in the Patient Experience Team said:
“I wasn’t expecting the amount of responsibility I have but it has been great to get the amount of opportunities and training we are offered. “
Wendy Taylor, Business Development Consultant from Learning Unlimited said:
“It is wonderful to work with an organisation who is clearly investing in apprenticeships. DHU are committed to giving apprentices the support they need to help them develop and progress their future career paths. The apprentices make good progress and are given lots of opportunities to learn essential skills. Apprentices are supported on the academic side of the training by our work-based tutors and their mentors in the work place. I am excited to see how DHU develop apprenticeship programmes in the future for new and existing staff development.”
