Siobhan George joined Oaks as a bank member of staff in 2017, helping with scanning in the Outpatients department whilst still at College.
When the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic hit us. Siobhan was one of the first to step up to help by carrying out temperature screening for all patients entering the hospital.
This gave Siobhan a bit of an insight into the clinical side of things, and led to her to join a clinical upskill programme to enable non clinical staff to be deployed into areas to assist the clinical teams. This was a key element in her decision to embark on the start of a clinical career.
After a discussion with her Line Manager Michelle Webb, Siobhan completed the upskill programme as well as the Care Certificate and was successfully appointed into an Apprentice Health Care Assistant position and accepted onto a Level 2 Apprenticeship. Siobhan has just achieved her Diploma and has been put forward for EPA (End Point Assessment) to complete her Apprenticeship in the coming weeks.
Sara Hobbs, Health & social care assessor & Internal Quality assurer from Colchester Institute said, “Siobhan has been an excellent apprentice, participating in our 1:1 sessions and submitting a high standard of work in her assignments, drawing on what she is learning in the practical environment & applying this in her written work. She has shown a thirst for knowledge and I am sure she will go far in her profession ''.
Michelle Webb, said,” Siobhan has seamlessly transitioned into her clinical role rotating throughout all the clinical departments during her apprenticeship, she has gained valuable skills and experience and I hope she will continue to grow within a clinical career pathway."
Learning & Development Co-ordinator, Donna Morgan said “Siobhan has been eager, motivated and flexible. She is on her programme because she wants to be and has made an active choice to learn on the job with a commitment to a specific clinical career pathway”.
Head of Clinical Services, Briony McSweeney added, “ We as an organisation, have benefited from being able to use the apprenticeship levy to attract excellent staff such as Siobhan from within our own workforce. This has resulted in staff being developed into skilled and knowledgeable practitioners, combining university study and workbased learning which is fantastic for us and our apprentices.
