North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust held a celebration event at the beginning of July to mark an important milestone for students and to share the ongoing development of the organisation’s T Level course.
The Trust welcomed its first and second year T Level students, as well as representatives from Hartlepool Sixth Form College, Hartlepool College of Further Education and Stockton Riverside College, to the Lecture Theatre at the University Hospital of North Tees.
Deputy chief people officer Gary Wright opened the event, before staff from the Trust’s education team showcased some of work taking place to continue to improve the course for future students. The morning was capped off with tea and cake and a short award ceremony to celebrate each individual student’s achievements over the past year.
Emma Davies, education lead at the Trust, said: “It was a great opportunity to celebrate how far our T Level course has come over the last year. We know there is still more to be done to develop and improve the course for our future students – but we also wanted to take a moment to celebrate our current students and their achievements to date.”
Emma added: “We’re looking to continue to develop the programme and to widen placement opportunities by getting more clinical areas involved in taking on students. We are also going to be implementing taster days, increasing the number of interactive skills days and creating a comprehensive student handbook to support their training with us.
“We’re looking forward to welcoming a new cohort of students in September and have taken all of the students’ feedback on board to adapt the course and ensure it’s giving them the best possible experience with us.”
Continuing to develop
As part of the continuing development of the T Level healthcare offer, the organisation will continue to work alongside all three colleges to continue to offer 24 pathway placements in the next academic year. It’s also looking at the opportunity to offer business administration placements in the future.
Chief people officer, Susy Cook, spoke on behalf of group chief executive Stacey Hunter to congratulate the students: “A huge congratulations and well done on behalf of Stacey, myself and the Trust.
“We are very proud of all that our students have accomplished so far and look forward to seeing how they will continue to excel in the next part of their professional healthcare journey. It’s an amazing accomplishment – it’s taken hard work, resilience and dedication and you will be an important part in keeping the NHS going.
Susy added: “I’d also like to extend my thanks to those who made this course possible with special note to Emma Davis and our T Level placement administrator Alison but also our clinical educators, the departments who opened their doors to these placements and to our all-important college partners. Each has been instrumental in making the programme a success.”
Comments from our college partners
“Congratulations students – it has been no mean feat to get here and to be looking at the next stage of your pathway into a career in healthcare.
Grant Glendinning, CEO for ETC. group and representing Stockton Riverside College
“A huge thank you to the Trust for being a great partner to work with. It’s hard to overstate the importance of getting the talent pipeline right for our students to excel in their careers.”
“I’m very proud of our T Level students and all they have accomplished this year. This partnership has highlighted the importance of training and retaining our students in our region.
Jane Reed, campus principal at Hartlepool Sixth Form
“There is nothing like walking through the corridors of the hospital and knowing that this is your classroom – where you can receive person-centred, hands on experience. The course would not have been the same without the opportunity to learn alongside healthcare professionals who do the job day in and day out.”
“It’s very rare to see three colleges working in collaboration at the same time and it wouldn’t have been possible without North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust.
Mick Casey, Vice Principal for curriculum and standards at the Hartlepool College of Further Education
“It’s a wonderful opportunity to offer meaningful placements for our T Level students. Our college has a mission to transform student lives and this partnership is helping us to do that.”
Find out more
You can find out more about the Trust’s T-Level healthcare programme here.