Bradford College Pioneers Virtual NHS Work Experience

LEEDS, U.K. - June 28, 2023 - PRLog -- Working with a panel of experts from Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Fast Track to T Level Health students took part in the first virtual 'Aspiring Allies' project to be piloted at a college.

Unlike traditional career schemes focusing on the roles of doctors and nurses, Aspiring Allies explores the 14 allied health professions available in the NHS, including osteopaths, physiotherapists, dieticians, occupational therapists, and speech and language therapists.

The online initiative was designed to help the Trust accommodate the demand for student work experience opportunities. Students participate in a six-module supported programme to learn the practical skills needed to progress into one of the allied health professions.

The Aspiring Allies initiative and its engagement platforms are funded with Ahead Partnership support and managed by the West Yorkshire and Harrogate AHP Faculty - a collective of healthcare and education institutions.

The Bradford College pilot is the largest to date and the only one to take part in a college, following two small schemes at Wakefield and Cullingworth schools incorporating 16 pupils.

Vicky Carter, Head of School at Bradford College, sits on the Health and Social Care Board of Bradford District's Careers and Technical Education (CTE), bringing together health professionals from across the region. This connection helps the College to embed NHS events and initiatives into curriculum.

Vicky said:
"We're really excited about the new Aspiring Allies project. The idea came about through the local CTE board as a solution to a real problem faced by the NHS post COVID-19, to alleviate some of the pressures placed on Trusts to give more and more young people real work experience in a stretched NHS."

Owing to the pilot's success, the Aspiring Allies programme will now be embedded in the programme of study for all Level 3 Health & Social Care Award students. The aspiration is that this will become an access point into the Bradford College T Level in Health (https://www.bradfordcollege.ac.uk/courses/t-level-in-heal...) and T Level in Healthcare Science (https://www.bradfordcollege.ac.uk/courses/t-level-in-heal...), and higher education or university programmes.