Backing up experience with the right qualification

I manage our Hospice at Home team who support patients in their last 12 months of life, with the aim of providing care in their own homes and minimising the need for hospital or care home admissions. This involves managing a large team of urgent care nurses and health care assistants and coordinating care with district nurses and our night service. I’m also the joint CQC Registered Manager for our hospice alongside our Ward Manager, responsible for the quality and safety of the day-to-day operations at the hospice.

My background prior to moving into a leadership role was clinical – I have a nursing degree and a masters in palliative care which I studied part-time while working. So when the opportunity arose to enrol on the Chartered Manager Degree Apprenticeship, I thought it was a good way of adding a management qualification to my clinical skillset; a way of backing up my experience with the right qualification.

Two courses in one

Manchester Met integrates the NHS Leadership Academy Mary Seacole programme into the degree apprenticeship course, and I found that the University tutors delivered the programme with clarity, support, and guidance. The tutor gave clear direction on how to apply leadership theory to our practice, and the support around the assignment was excellent - breaking down everything that we needed to do in an accessible way. I found it so beneficial, and it was rewarding to achieve the Mary Seacole award alongside our degree apprenticeship studies.

Increasing my confidence

The degree apprenticeship has increased my confidence when managing conflict and coordinating collaborative working. Part of my day-to-day work involves coordinating in-home services with external agencies, some of whom are corporate entities with different policies and ways of working. When you’re working in a high-stress environment, and under the pressures of the Covid-19 pandemic, it’s been important that I can empathise with my team, have those challenging conversations to support them, and manage any conflict that arises. The learning I’ve done at university has really helped me to achieve this.

Influencing positive change

My learning on the course has also helped to influence my practice and make positive changes to the team, with my learning around change management theory supporting me by giving me the tools to explain my strategy to the team and bring them along with me on the journey. It’s also meant that I can work more independently and deliver change faster on the ground.

A level of support like no other

I’m 37 now and I’ve been studying in one form or another since I left school at 16. I can honestly say that I’ve never before experienced the levels of support that I have on the Chartered Manager Health and Social Care Degree Apprenticeship at Manchester Met. It’s almost overwhelming how much support there is – from pre-induction study skills workshops, to the responsiveness of tutors and skills coaches whenever I’ve needed help or guidance, to the resources available through the website and Moodle. There’s so much there to support us and to help us through any difficulties while we’re on the programme.