This National Apprenticeship Week, Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust is proud of the significant value, benefits, and opportunities that apprenticeships offer our staff.
Gateshead Health and QE Facilities currently support 187 staff on apprenticeship programmes and we are working with 26 different training providers. There are around 47 different types of apprenticeship programmes taking place with 60 staff completing their apprenticeships in 2024. This is a great achievement as we continue to support our colleagues to achieve their career goals.
Dionne Haggerty works as a Trainee Advanced Clinical Practitioner (ACP) in the Emergency Department and has worked at Gateshead Health for five years. Dionne shares her experience of completing her masters with the support of the Trust.
“I am currently undertaking an MSc in Advanced Clinical Practice and started my third and final year in February of this year. I was offered the opportunity to complete this qualification under the apprenticeship scheme for the Trust. My experience of the apprenticeship so far has been great. The initial application was straight forward and the team was available to help and answer any queries I had about the process. Since starting, the team has been visible and kept in touch to offer support when needed.”
The role of the Trainee ACP in the Emergency Department involves seeing children from one year old to adulthood who come to the department. Dionne’s role is to take an extensive history of the presenting complaint, do a thorough physical examination, order, carry out, and understand any investigations required, including blood results, ECGs, x-rays, and scans. With all of this information, she can then make a diagnosis and start treatment to either discharge to home, admit into the hospital or refer to another speciality such as the surgical or orthopaedic team.
Dionne shares a typical day in her role:
A typical day for me would be either an 8:00am to 6:30pm shift, or 1:30pm to midnight. If I am on shift at 8:00am I will be allocated an area of the Emergency Department; Majors 1 which is for patients who walk in to the department with illness or injuries that can be seen, examined, diagnosed, treated and sent home. The Resus area is for our sickest patients. Usually, we receive a phone call from the ambulance service to tell us the patient is on their way and these patients can arrive in cardiac arrest, with trauma, or sepsis to name a few examples.
Majors 2 or 3 is usually where our sicker patients are brought in by ambulance are and will need to stay in the hospital. In these areas, we can have patients with sepsis, diabetic emergencies, chest pain, elderly patients who have fallen or may not be managing at home and need to come into hospital for social care to name a few examples. I will take handover from nightshift for any patients in the department, review the patients from overnight and continue throughout the shift to see new patients by priority.
I am passionate about my job and I really do love it! My favourite part is meeting new people every day, hearing their stories and hopefully making the worst day for them a little better by giving them the care they need and deserve. The entire team in the Emergency Department is fantastic, we all work together and help each other do our jobs, and ensure our patients are safe and receive the best possible care.
For more information on apprenticeships at Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust, get in touch with the learning and development team at [email protected]