A GROUP of health care staff are starting work in a brand new role in the county’s hospitals, after the class of Associate Practitioners completed their university training foundation degree.
Almost 20 health care assistants at Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust (WAHT) decided to take on the specialist, ward-based course to learn the skills to help them step-up to this new role.
The Associate Practitioners can now help fill a gap in skills between Health Care Assistants and fully qualified staff nurses, and will help with the assessment of patients’ condition as well as help plan their further care.
Practice facilitator Ally Middleton said: “This new role is really significant for our patients, as it provides them with a group of staff who have advanced education and skills.
“All the Associate Practitioners should be commended for their hard work and commitment over the last 13 months and will go on to deliver great, hands-on care to all our patients.”
Chief nurse Vicky Morris added: “All of the Associate Practitioners should be proud of their achievement. The focus and enthusiasm they have shown in gaining this qualification is inspiring to see. I look forward to working alongside them.”
New Associate Practitioner, Lucy Keyte said: “The course was a brilliant opportunity for career progression for me.
I’d been a Health Care Assistant for a few years now and wanted to do something where I could get that extra knowledge to have a better understanding of why and how we give the care we do.”
The majority of the course’s graduates have now started working in their new roles on wards across the county’s three acute hospitals – the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch; Kidderminster Hospital and Treatment Centre; and Worcestershire Royal Hospital.
The qualification also allows the graduates to access a top-up course to become a fully qualified nurse.
