A workplace that championed apprenticeships

I’m the Operational Intelligence Lead for Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust’s medical division. I lead a team of data analysts and software engineers covering medicine, community diagnostics, and clinical support for the Trust. It’s quite a big remit.

I’ve been working in the NHS since I was 16, and I’d got to the point where I’d hit the ceiling, where I couldn’t really go for any more senior positions without a degree, and so my line manager suggested looking at degree apprenticeships. In my department, there’s more of a push towards the apprenticeship route, not just for degree apprenticeships but also the lower-level apprenticeships as well. In 2019, we had one apprentice on the team, and now we have 6 team members studying apprenticeships from L4 – L7, and we’ve seen the benefits of the knowledge and skills they’re bringing into the workplace.

Implementing my learning

Personally, at the stage I am in my life and with a young family to support, I don’t think that there would have been the ability for me to do what I need to do to gain a degree without the degree apprenticeship option, as I couldn’t completely give up work and study full-time.

In particular, the work-based project unit has taught me strategies to streamline processes, speed up project work and work more effectively with key stakeholders. Now that I have this knowledge to improve my ways of working, I can see my projects having even more impact in the future.

Find out more about the Chartered Manager Fast-Track Degree Apprenticeship.