KGH wins work placement provider award

Kettering General Hospital has won a college group's work placement provider of the year award.

The Rothwell Road hospital was victorious at The Bedford College Group's first ever employer of the year awards for its commitment to introducing students to a real working environment.

In December 2020 the hospital contacted the group to see if students would like to take up some work placements and help take pressure off some of the hospital staff and help support patients. The response from students was incredible and a work placement scheme like no other in the group’s history was launched in January 2021, with nearly 70 students taking part.

The students, aged 16 to 35, helped free up hospital ward staff so they could concentrate on clinical care.

Students supported patients at mealtimes, made drinks, chatted to patients and provide company for them. They also helped patients access schemes like virtual visiting – where people use the gospital’s computer tablets to contact relatives when visiting was suspended due to Covid-19 restrictions. Students benefited from valuable work experience and gained insight into how the hospital is run, as well as infection control methods and Covid testing procedures to ensure safe working.

Kettering General Hospital’s head of education and learning, Sheila Turner said: “We have worked closely with the college to fit students to our ward host role which really helped us to maximise our support for patients and our own staff at this difficult time.

"Together, we developed an induction process where students are briefed in food hygiene, risk, and hospital procedures.

"They were taught and assessed to wear appropriate PPE to the areas they are working in, which includes eight wards, A&E, pathology and physiotherapy.”

Senior A&E sister Deborah Wale said: “We can be really busy in A&E and have lots of elderly patients. The student ward hosts are playing a really valuable role in providing company for our patients who may be quite nervous, and are also helping us by performing some of the tasks which take us away from clinical care.”

Sarah Nolan, head of health, care and early years at Tresham College, said: “The students are loving the work and really feel they are making a contribution. They have received a very warm welcome from staff and they are really pleased to help out and see, first hand, what sort of opportunities working in healthcare provides.

“This partnership will continue to flourish for the benefit of both dollege students and Kettering General Hospital. Moving forward, the work placement scheme will continue and the hospital has also agreed to provide T Level placements for the new Health T Level programme which launched this year.”

At the awards ceremony Katie Moreland was named outstanding student of the year and apprentice of the year.

Katie overcame dyslexia to achieve distinctions as a business administrator apprentice at Kettering General Hospital.

Joshua Crook was announced as FE student of the year. A performing arts students at Tresham College, he not only excelled but supported his peers across the department.