Partnership is enabling young people to gain valuable work experience in the NHS

A partnership is enabling young people with additional needs to gain confidence and experience through hospital placements in Lincolnshire.

Lincolnshire Community and Hospitals NHS Group (LCHG) is proud to be supporting the Lincolnshire NHS Choices College by offering placements to students.

This is a specialist college providing tailored educational support, and a supported internship course for young adults aged 16-24 with learning difficulties and/or disabilities, and/or autism.

Since September 2023, a small number of students have been completing placements in lots of health and social care settings.

This has included with the portering, catering, estates and post room teams at Lincoln County Hospital and John Coupland Hospital in Gainsborough. There are currently six students on placements at Lincoln County Hospital.

The hospital placements are organised by the college through the Lincolnshire Talent Academy.

Nicola Altoft, Employability and Careers Lead, Lincolnshire Talent Academy, said: “Offering placements is invaluable - not only for the students who gain hands-on experience and insight into real-world healthcare roles but also for us as employers. These opportunities serve as a vital pipeline for our future workforce, helping us to inspire and inform the next generation of health and care professionals.”

Mike Parkhill, Group Chief Estates and Facilities Officer at Lincolnshire Community and Hospitals NHS Group, said: “We are really proud to work with the college and it has been a privilege to welcome the students into our teams. The biggest reward has been watching them learn new skills and grow in confidence.”

Joshua Robinson has already completed a placement with the Portering Team and has just started a new placement with the Joinery Team, supported by Joiner Mark Ullah.

Mark, who has previously worked as a lead technician within a college joinery department, said: “It is brilliant for us to be able to support students like Joshua who clearly have an interest in joinery. Through this placement we will be able to help nurture Joshua’s natural talent and offer him lots of support and advice that will hopefully help him in his career.”

Joshua Young has just completed his placement in the café in the main entrance at Lincoln County Hospital.

He said:“I love hospitality and serving people. I have loved my placement in the hospital so much that I’ve just applied for a job. It is never nice coming to hospital as a patient and so I always try to interact with people and I try to brighten their day.”

Adele Would is the hospital’s Retail Catering Manager. She said: “Joshua has been a ray of sunshine and has really fitted in as part of the team. We love working with the college and look forward to many more placements and other opportunities for the students and our teams.”

Reece Goy and Conner are both working with the busy Portering Team. Reece has just started at Lincoln as he has recently finished at placement at John Coupland Hospital in Gainsborough. Conner has been with the Lincoln team since September and has enjoyed his time so much that he has asked to stay with them for a bit longer.

Joseph Rose has also just started his placement in the Post Room at Lincoln County Hospital, but is quickly getting to grips on how to handle the hundreds of letters and parcels that go through the department every single day.

Paula Caine is the Area Manager for Lincolnshire NHS Choices College. Paula said: “The collaboration between LCHG and NHS Choices College has been a great opportunity for us all to champion the benefits of disability employment. Staff teams have welcomed our students not as patients, but as colleagues, quickly building up their confidence and self-belief. We’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone who works with us and hope this partnership keeps growing.”