Our early careers team received a gold standard from NHS England for its fantastic Work Experience and Early Careers Activities programme.

The standard is a marker which shows that our work experience is of the highest quality.

James O’Keefe, Head of Careers and Education Projects, had a massive role in obtaining this standard, dedicating a lot of time to ensuring the work experience programme is as comprehensive as possible. He said: "Work experience is a brilliant way for people to explore different careers.

“Getting the gold standard shows how good our programme is and how much it helps our communities. It shows that our staff are dedicated to helping the next generation get started in their careers."

To obtain the standard, James and his team had to excel in the key areas:

• Engaging the community and offering equitable access to work placements.
• Ensuring placements are appropriate for individuals and they complete their induction.
• Making sure the placements are purposeful.
• Continually reviewing and refining placements.
• Having a next steps strategy for the individual.

They had to hand in a comprehensive body of evidence to show their improvements in these areas, as well as reports alongside this.

The team work really hard to make the work experience as beneficial as possible, making sure it is tailored to each person’s passions and skills. While what we offer is mainly taken up by 16–18-year-olds, there is no age limit to the opportunities. Our work experience programme positively impacts our local community as it helps to provide stepping stones for students, as well as staff who want to go into different areas of work.

Fancy giving work experience at our Trust a go? Email our early careers team or look at our website.