BWC Staff work experience guide

Aspire@BWC #opportunitieswithoutlimits

Work Experience is a great way to give young people an insight into the NHS

I found this week very “rewarding and very interesting and it really opened my eyes to what goes on in the hospital.

How you can support Work Experience At Birmingham Women’s and Children’s Hospital we aim to offer a variety of work experience placements in both clinical and non-clinical areas to young people. This handbook explains how you can support work experience placement at the Hospital.

You can contact the Aspire Team for advice on Tel: 0121 333 8604

Email: bwc.workexperience@nhs.net

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Working together to support opportunities Here at Birmingham Women’s and Children’s Hospital we offer the following work experience opportunities.

Pre-confirmed Pre confirmed placements are offered by members of staff who have been contacted directly by a student.

For this type of placement, arrangements (dates, times and forms ) are organised by the department but the Aspire team are kept informed.

We have recently introduced this change following feedback which will will mean that directorates/ departments who wish to offer work experience placements through this route, will need to ensure they manage the process themselves, following the appropriate guidance and processes.

The Aspire team will still undertake some audits to ensure that we, as an organisation, continue to offer high quality placements. We hope that this will be received positively and provide you with the flexibility needed and requested through feedback.

Structured Week The four day structured work experience is a group programme which compromises 2 hour placements in the morning and practical workshops, speakers and career guidance in the afternoon. This programme is delivered during school holidays and students for the programme are recruited by the Aspire team.

We are always looking for willing volunteers to support the structured programme from delivering short talks or practical sessions to supporting 2hr placements. Let us know if you can help!

1:1 Placements If you are a department that is looking to offer a significant number (i.e. 20 or more) of placements to young people a 1-1 directory may be ideal. These placements are ideal if you are looking to promote interest in a particular career ie Radiology. A spreadsheet of dates for these placements are set in advance ie 12 months and are promoted by the Work Experience team to young people.

Restricted Departments

Any individual undertaking work experience entering a restricted area must be under the direct and immediate supervision of a member of staff who has both agreed to , and is able to, take responsibility for the individual. For individuals undertaking work experiences placements within restricted areas, the person in charge of that area must be notified prior to the placement taking place.

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Work Experience guiding principles •

Each directorate/department is responsible for managing the paperwork and recording of work experience placements. However ALL placements must follow the policy and must be recorded on the Work Experience register.

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Work experience participants must be supervised at all times and must not have unsupervised access to patients. For this purpose, supervision is defined as within visual contact at all times.

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The role of the work experience participant should be made clear to anyone with whom they interact with during their placement.

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In clinical areas, under NO circumstances will students be permitted to take an active part in any situation relating to patient care delivery. Work experience in these areas will be confined to observation only.

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Friends and relatives of staff members wishing to apply for a work experience placement should follow the procedure outlined. You are not permitted a to bring friends and family on an informal, unplanned basis.

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If you are supporting a placement for the first time please ensure you read the WEX Supervisors booklet and have a valid risk assessment for your department.

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Managers and supervisors should be clear about what work experience participants can observe and assist with prior to the placement commencing.

This should be communicated to all staff involved in the placement.

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Due to the high demand on placements, work experience opportunities are expected to be no longer than 2 weeks. If departments wish to support longer placements, this needs to be discussed with the Aspire Team

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You must ensure that a risk assessment for the placement area has been completed (this can be checked with the Aspire team or your WEX Champion) It is the placement supervisor’s responsibility to review the risk assessment and amend the placement as required

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Ensure that on the first day of a placement, the work experience participant receives a local induction to the ward/department where they will be working and that the work experience Local Induction checklist is completed

Placement recruitment process If a ward/department is contacted directly with a request for a placement that they are able to support, the member of staff who will be supervising the placement needs to follow the following below

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Making work experience fun!

It really is rewarding when you see a young person go from quiet and unsure of career path to helping clarify things for them and watching their progress.

Working in a Women’s and Children’s Hospital is not always an easy job and it is important that if you want to work in a certain area you have the opportunity to see what it’s really like.

• It’s useful to expose young people to a variety of roles during their work experience. They get

a wider appreciation of the range of the different aspects of healthcare, and responsibility for the students can be shared between different staff during their placement.

• A full day in a hospital or offices can be tiring for school children – pace the day accordingly.

• Advise students to wear clothing in layers they can take off if they get hot.

• Young people should be in the company of a member of staff at all times, but it doesn’t always have to be the same person.

• They should be wearing a badge at all times o identify themselves and what they are doing.

• Some students may be comfortable helping with a range of patient care-linked activities, such as helping with drinks and meals, but this should always be directed and supervised.

• Ensure there is a plan or schedule for the individual’s time in the department clearly outlining what they are doing each day (for example, where they will be in the building and who to meet, and so on).

The purpose is for the young person to experience work and to be exposed to the associated disciplines such as good time keeping, reliability, team working and problem solving.

Programmes that involve only observation of tasks or watching presentations will not meet the goals of work experience for young people – and may, quite quickly, bore them, so make sure it’s inspiring!

Supervisors pack When you agree to support a work experience student you will be issued with a supervisor pack. This pack contains: Before Placement • Outline of supervisor responsibilities • Placement Timetable - A plan of activities should be developed by the supervisor prior to commencement of the placement.

During Placement • Induction check list – this must be completed with the participant on the first day of the placement.

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Placement Discussion Agenda – A discussion should be taken on the first day with the student and supervisor to explore what the student wishes to get from the placement. This should be followed by a debriefing session at the end of the placement reviewing the placement discussion agenda.

End of Placement • Student Work Experience Report - give the student feedback on their performance during the week.

• Evaluation form – please ask the participant to complete this evaluation form at the end of their placement.

• Certificate – For completion of a successful placement for the student.

As part of the structured week students have to deliver a project on their final day called ‘Careers Happen’. ‘Careers Happen’ is designed as a fun and interactive session that demonstrates the different and varied ways in which careers actually happen.

Information on this activity (and others activities) is included in the students’ work experience diary. Students are automatically sent a diary which they can use during their placements

Work Experience Forms

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Birmingham Women’s and Children’s Hospital NHS, Steelhouse Lane, Birmingham, B4 6NH