John Edwards – Learning and Development Trainer and Staff Coordinator

‘I work within Corporate Services as a learning and development trainer and staff coordinator. My duties require me to be motivated, supportive, compassionate and to provide non-clinical advice to services within the Trust about the relevant range of training we offer.

While in my job role as a learning and development trainer, I started a Learning and Development Consultant/Business Partner apprenticeship to enhance my understanding of how these functions support the Corporate Service and the organisation. This experience has helped me to develop my career by giving me the skills and knowledge to take up the position of staff coordinator within learning and development.

I enjoy supporting staff members to analyse and develop outcomes using practical approaches to support patients and staff.’

Sarah Higgins – Talent for Care Adviser for Community Mental Health Services

‘I am a Talent for Care adviser for Community Mental Health Services. My main duties include supporting managers with recruitment for their services and supporting successful candidates from their interview to induction and whilst in post.

As a part of my role, I help to deliver the Talent for Care agenda within the Community Mental Health Services, developing new and existing talent to upskill our workforce to drive better patient experiences and outcomes for all service users.

I started in the Talent for Care team in June 2021 as a Talent for Care apprentice studying customer service. My apprenticeship has helped me to develop and grow within the Trust, with the theory-based knowledge from my qualification and the practical skills of working within my role and team. I have been stretched and challenged through my 20% off the job and got to develop my skills and confidence beyond what I thought I was capable of. The exposure to other roles and responsibilities within my team helped me to prepare for new opportunities and gave me the confidence to apply and I was successful. I have progressed from apprentice to administrator, and then in July 2022 I moved into my new role as Talent for Care advisor.

I love and enjoy my job at Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust as I get to support and develop new and existing talent through apprenticeships.’

Harry Cross – Student Nursing Associate

‘I am a student nursing associate. I am currently based on Sherbourne PICU (Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit) at the Caludon Centre in Coventry. As a student, my primary role is to gain experience and learn as much as possible from the nurses and healthcare assistants around me.

In general, my duties are to assist the nurses with tasks on the ward, such as helping with medication rounds, risk assessments, care plans, and other general tasks.

In March 2019 I started my career by taking part in The Prince’s Trust employability course that ran as a partnership with the Prince’s Trust and the Talent for Care Team at Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust. From here, I applied for a healthcare assistant role and was placed on Sherbourne PICU where I completed my Care Certificate. I started the Level 3 Lead Adult Care Apprenticeship with the Trust, which I finished at the end of 2020.  I then applied for the Student Nursing Associate Apprenticeship. I started the course in May 2021 and I am hoping to graduate in May 2023.

I really enjoy working as part of the team on Sherbourne ward. There is a great sense of togetherness on the ward. I really enjoy working in mental health and caring for people. Being able to care for people, see them get better and move on back to their homes or to other placements is the best feeling. It is what makes everything you do worthwhile.’

Lisa Kelly – Occupational Therapy Assistant

‘I work for the Community Learning Disabilities Team in North Warwickshire as an occupational therapy assistant. I have been in my role for 8 years. I support our clients to engage in meaningful occupations, increase their skills for independence and implement sensory recommendations as set out by the occupational therapist. I support the occupational therapist I work with during the assessment process, completing observations and providing feedback.

I have worked in the health and social care sector since I left school. Whilst I have worked in a variety of roles, they have all focussed on reablement for the people I worked with, including providing short-term support following hospital discharge. The clients would set goals with the occupational therapist and I would support and help them to achieve these goals.

I then worked at a specialist residential college for people with learning disabilities, which I loved, so when an occupational therapy assistant job was advertised in the learning disability team, I knew it was the one for me.

In my experience working in the Trust, I have always been supported with my training and development needs and feel lucky to have had supportive managers who have agreed for me to complete various courses and training opportunities.

My department is very supportive and I really enjoy my job and working where I do.

I am currently in my 2nd of 4 years into the occupational therapy degree on the apprenticeship route with the Trust. I chose the apprenticeship route as I feel this is a good way to learn and work at the same time and to integrate the knowledge I am gaining in practice. I also think it is great to be able to achieve a degree level qualification supported by the Trust financially as I would not have been able to give up work to go to university and achieve this qualification.’

Rachel Jolly – Senior Admin Lead

‘I work within the Learning Disability and Autism Directorate as the senior admin lead. My role includes supporting the support services lead as well as managing the administration service to support inpatient and community patients. It’s a very busy role with a whole range of tasks to be completed.

On a daily basis, my duties include recruitment, performance reviews, working closely with medical secretaries to ensure services are fully covered, and addressing any shortfalls. I have had many opportunities within the role to get involved in project work and work closely with other teams within the Trust.

My role came about as I was looking for an opportunity when I saw the position advertised and was intrigued by what I read about the work at Brooklands Hospital, in the community, and in the Learning Disability and Autism Directorate generally.

Over my working life, I have held several positions mainly in customer care/services which have helped me to gain a wide variety of skills and knowledge that I have been able to bring to the role.’

Jordan Hawkins – Apprentice Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner

‘I work in the Solihull Healthy Minds Service as an apprentice psychological wellbeing practitioner. This means that I am currently training at university alongside working in the service. My training focuses on how to support people with common mental health problems such as anxiety and low mood. My main duties are assessing people as they come into the service and working with the service user to explore options both inside and outside of our service that would help them in their recovery. As well as this I work with clients at step 2 and deliver low-intensity cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) interventions with a guided self-help focus.

I studied psychology at university, and then went on to work as a healthcare assistant in a mental health hospital, working with a range of people from children and young people to older age adults. After, I became a dialectical behavioural therapy assistant on a women’s ward and I would assist with therapy sessions and developing skills. I have volunteered as an assistant psychologist in another mental health hospital and last year I completed my master’s degree in applied psychology. This bought me to my current apprenticeship in low-intensity interventions and my role as an apprentice psychological wellbeing practitioner.

I enjoy getting to speak to and work with a wide range of people in the community and go with them on their journey towards recovery. I also have amazing colleagues who are always supportive and ready to help me with any difficulties that I face. As I am also an apprentice, having the opportunity to study whilst I work has been really helpful as it means all the skills I am learning can be put into practice to help others in my community.

Once I have completed my apprenticeship, I would like to stay working at the Solihull Healthy Minds Service and to develop more as a practitioner before exploring career development such as moving into a senior or mentoring role so I can support other apprentices in coming into the service and learning skills. I think that mental health is a really important aspect of our lives and being able to continue working in this role is really important to me.’

Joel Shetliffe – Recruitment Assistant

I currently work within the recruitment department. I am a first point of contact for candidates coming in for their ID check appointments. I assist the candidates through every stage of employment, either face-to-face or through our main recruitment system, TRAC. I support with ID checks, sorting DBS, Occupational Health and many other forms to ensure their recruitment process is smooth and quick. I also assist in creating ID badges.

I started within the Trust doing a Level 2 Customer Service Apprenticeship at Highfield House Rehabilitation Unit doing admin. I saw an opportunity for a band 2 role within the HR department / recruitment department and thought I would attempt the interview, mainly for experience, however, I was lucky enough to get through. I am still currently completing my apprenticeship with amazing support from my new team and Talent for Care.

I enjoy the office environment. The staff are so friendly, helpful and only want the best for every individual.

I enjoy the thought of having so many pathways, options, and careers all in one organisation. You can work your way up, learn, develop, and progress and I think that is something that our Trust is amazing at promoting.

Within my department I enjoy getting to know other people’s roles, socialising but also learning from others. Seeing where people started to where they are now and learning something new each and every day. No two days are the same. I also really enjoy meeting new people every day!’

Joanne Holland – Advanced Consultant Clinical Practitioner

‘I am one of two consultant practitioners within the developing Urgent Community Response Service. I have an extensive emergency nursing background. The role involves clinical leadership, management, research, and clinical assessment – the role allows and encourages me to remain patient facing to maintain clinical skills and medically support patients who are presenting acutely unwell. This is with the aim of avoiding an unnecessary hospital admission and keeping a focus of the challenges posed on the frontline.

My entire career has been focused around acute and emergency care. The current national agenda is changing the focus of funding and expanding workforces to support patient’s to be acutely managed within the home environment. This interested me in bringing that experience into community services and shaping services to support a more acute approach.

Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust is a supportive, friendly, and innovative organisation that encourages staff to have a voice in the process of change and encourages professional development at all levels.’

Ravi Mavadiya – Recruitment Officer

Once I completed the Prince’s Trust employability course, I was offered an interviewed for a Data Quality Apprentice role in the information team and alongside this, I studied for my level 2 Business administration course. Once my contract ended, I search and applied for the Recruitment Apprentice position and continued my studies for the Level 3 qualification. I was then offered a permanent Band 2 position once I completed my level 3 qualification and have been working in the Recruitment team since. Recently I was promoted to Recruitment officer which I am really proud of.

In my role, I am responsible for dealing with the end-to-end Recruitment checks for new starters who join the Trust. My role also involves providing existing staff and new starters with their Trust ID badges. Most of our checks involve verifying IDs, checking references and starting to manage the requirements for their role and identifying whether their role needs a DBS Check.

What I enjoy most about working for CWPT is meeting new people, through various roles they are recruited to and learning about their roles in the process too. As there are people working in many departments within the Trust, every day is different.

Thinking about my future I may apply for a Foundation Degree course in Business administration or IT next. Whatever I choose, I am grateful that I will be supported.