Future Heroes - Be the difference in health and social care
08 Jan 21
Future Heroes’ virtual event gives more than 100 school and college students an insight into careers in health and social care
The annual Health and Social Care Careers Expo ‘Future Heroes’ was held virtually for the first time at the end of last year, and attracted over 100 students from a range of schools and colleges across Hertfordshire and West Essex .
Future Heroes has been popular with schools and students for several years now, attracting a greater number of children each year. It highlights the various roles within health and social care with students at an early stage.
Tom Cahill, lead for Workforce at Hertfordshire and West Essex ICS, and CEO at Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust, commented:
“The NHS is a vital part of the health and social care system, offering a wide variety of rewarding career options. Whether you want to be a paramedic, pharmacist, social worker or psychologist, there are many diverse roles with real prospects to develop and progress your career.
Within each profession there are numerous roles and pathways, for instance the new role of Nursing Associate. This has been an attractive addition, offering a great stepping stone to becoming a Registered Nurse in one of the many fields of nursing. There really is something for everyone and there are many more routes into health and social care.”
A large scale interactive event was scheduled at the end of March by Hertfordshire and West Essex Health and Care Academy with many schools confirmed to attend however it unfortunately had to be cancelled just as the coronavirus pandemic set in. With the pandemic highlighting the importance of health and social care staff for supporting people, and the nation showing its love for the NHS and care homes this year, it was important for the event to be run in some way for those students.
The virtual event included a range of sessions with professionals covering careers within Medicine, Pharmacy, Social Care, Ambulance Services, Hospice Care, Allied Health Professionals, and the various roles within Nursing such as learning disability, mental health and community nursing. Students also had the option of hearing about everything they need to know on studying a healthcare course at university and tips on those important applications.
Graham Clark MCPara, East of England Ambulance Service, who ran one of the sessions said: “It’s not just the people you see driving our ambulances that save lives, it’s everyone in our organisation that pull together to make it happen. My session covered the variety of positions within the East of England Ambulance Service, from paramedic to Call Handler, IT support, Admin and Fleet Management; whatever your passion, there is a place for you.”
Feedback from teachers and students was positive:
- “The students liked that it was live with real professionals discussing their own personal roles and they found that part very informative. They enjoyed the interactive quiz.” Hertford Regional College
- “Thank you for organising and delivering the sessions today, they were very informative and received excellent feedback from the students who attended.” Jane at Goffs Herts School
- “The Medicine session was excellent, great to see the actual people speaking about their roles, together with really interesting content and slides. This sparked good conversations with our students, especially about what they can be working on from now so they can be in the right position when they will apply.” Philippa at JFK Herts School
- “Thank you very much this was very interesting and helpful!” school student
Further information on the careers within health and social care can be found on the Hertfordshire and west Essex Health and Care Academy website: www.academy.healthierfuture.org.uk