Unfortunately, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has suspended our work experience programmes. We are currently unable to run events or provide placements in order to minimise the spread of infection and due to restrictions on external visitors in our hospitals. We understand that this will be frustrating and disappointing for many people, however our priority has to be the safety of our patients, staff and local communities.
We are in the process of creating virtual resources and online work experience opportunities. More information to follow shortly – watch this space!
We are proud to offer work experience opportunities to local people who aspire to have a career within Health and Care. The Careers & Engagement Team organise a range of work experience programmes throughout the year in clinical and non-clinical settings and a variety of departments.
We are so proud to have achieved the FairTrain Gold Standard for our work experience programmes!
Find out more about our award winning opportunities below!
Where?
Placements are offered to applicants who live or attend school/college/university within the Morecambe Bay area (this covers Garstang, Lancaster, Morecambe, Kendal, South Lakes and the Furness peninsula). We offer work experience opportunities in three of our hospitals: Furness General Hospital in Barrow, Westmorland General Hospital in Kendal and the Royal Lancaster Infirmary in Lancaster. We can also offer Work Experience at local GP surgeries and Care Homes across South Cumbria and North Lancashire.
What?
We offer a number of different Work Experience programmes for different age groups. These programmes offer applicants the opportunity to meet healthcare professionals and ask questions about educational course choices and career pathways.
How?
To find out more or to apply for any of our programmes, please send an email to: work.experience@mbht.nhs.uk
After school Skills Clubs (Year 9 students)
We run a 5-6 week after school club for Year 9 students. Each hour long session introduces the groups of young people to different NHS staff teams and aims to develop a skill or value e.g. communication skills, empathy, resuscitation. They are always really fun and practical, and provide an excellent introduction to work experience in the Health sector.
We are in the process of converting the delivery of our Skills Clubs from ‘face to face’ to a virtual alternative – more information to follow shortly.
Career Insights Weeks (14 – 16 years old)
These are week-long opportunities for students aged 14-16 to experience healthcare careers on our hospital sites. We usually run these weeks during the half-term holidays to enable anyone in Year 10 or 11 to join us. Students are hosted in a group in our Education Centre classrooms, where staff teams visit them to deliver interactive sessions and activities designed to develop skills and showcase a range of healthcare careers.
We hope you appreciate that we are currently unable to offer ‘on-site’ delivery of these weeks, however, we are pleased to announce that we will be trialling a Virtual Careers Insights Programme during the October half-term break.
Virtual Career Insights Event:
26th-28th October 2020
We recognise that visiting hospital sites, interacting with staff and experiencing a hands-on approach is preferable, however, we hope you understand that this not possible at the moment. Hence, our Virtual Careers Insights Programme aims to replicate the previous delivery as closely as possible. We will be having a mixture of live presentations, live demonstrations, pre-recorded virtual tours, Q&A sessions, in addition to tasks for participants to undertake.
The benefit of hosting this event virtually is that we have a near unlimited number of spaces available and we are able to invite Year 10 & 11 pupils from all schools across the Morecambe Bay footprint. The event is being hosted via ‘Microsoft Teams Live Event‘, which means that participants will be able to watch videos and can interact with the presenters and producers, through a chat function in order to ask questions.
Register your interest in participating in this event by emailing us at: work.experience@mbht.nhs.uk
Work Experience Placements (Ages 16+)
We run a comprehensive work experience programme for people aged over 16. We offer observational placements of between 1-5 days in clinical and non-clinical departments. This aims to showcase NHS careers and support people in applying for further or higher educational courses by providing them with first-hand experience of healthcare roles.
College Placements
We organise placements to support students on relevant courses at our local Colleges and provide them with the necessary work experience placements for their course. The majority of our College placements so far have been clinical placements for local Health & Social Care students, but we have also provided placements in Engineering, Plumbing, Electrical and Joinery departments. In the future, we hope to expand this programme to also include Healthcare Science placements in our hospital labs.
Virtual Work Experience for Over 16s
We recognise that visiting hospital sites, shadowing staff members and experiencing a hands-on approach is preferable, however, we hope you understand that this not possible at the moment. Instead, we are designing a series of virtual ‘pre-university’ events which aim to provide people aged over 16 with an opportunity to engage with NHS staff and student ambassadors from local universities. These events will take place online and each one will focus on a particular future career area, for example: Medicine, Nursing, Midwifery, Healthcare Science, Finance, Catering etc. There will be access to pre-recorded talks and demonstrations as well as live Q&As with professionals from the Health and Social Care sector and our local universities.
Attending these virtual events and actively engaging with the professionals online should provide young people with a great deal of learning to inform their future subject and career choices, while also providing them with experiences to describe and discuss in UCAS or job applications.
More information and dates to follow shortly!
We also run a number of events every year to showcase the wide range of careers on offer in the Health and Social Care sectors. Attending one of our Open Days, Patient Journey events or Blue Light exhibitions can also provide you with valuable work experience to discuss in UCAS applications or interviews.
Find more information about our upcoming events on the News and Events page or on our Facebook page: Bay Health & Care Careers Team
Volunteering
Our volunteers are a vital part of our success. We provide the best possible care in every way and much of the support we provide wouldn’t be possible without our generous volunteers.
Lets Go!
Careers Advice & Support
The Careers & Engagement Team run a range of events and projects that are designed to inspire and support people into Health and Care careers. Find out more about the guidance and opportunities that they can offer you to help you find your dream job in healthcare.
Lets Go!
Apprenticeships
Do you want to earn and learn at the same time? Get involved by applying for an Apprenticeship in any of the organisations in Bay Health & Care Partners!
Lets Go!Our Staff Stories
Freya - Work Experience Student
Under 16 Work Experience Programme
Thank you very much for allowing me to spend my work experience week at the Royal Lancaster Infirmary! I really enjoyed it. The array of jobs and departments on show in the workshops was so diverse – the wide range of people gave me such a good insight into the NHS and where my future could take me in terms of jobs. It was a great thing to experience and will be very useful for me.
Emma - Event Participant
Healthcare Careers Weekend Event
The Careers Weekend completely opened my eyes to careers in the NHS! This was an incredibly interesting, engaging and inspiring event. I am privileged to have seen so much of the hidden yet essential areas in the Trust, and I have come to realise the integral and complex communications that must go on all the time. To see the commitment and passion of workers was so encouraging and I cannot wait for the day when I am also (hopefully!) working alongside you all! Please pass on my thanks to all those involved who took the time and effort to inspire us. You all make such a positive difference!
