Occupational Therapy Apprentice Review
at NHS
Degree Apprenticeship
Healthcare
Wiltshire
Review Submitted: May 2022
Overall Rating
4.2 /5
The Overall Rating is the average of all the ratings given in each category. We take those individual ratings and combine them into one final score!
3.5/5
-
Overview of Role
4/5
-
Skills Development
4.2/5
-
Structure and Support
Overview of Role
Please give an overview of your role and what this involves on a day-to-day basis:
4/5
Working in an acute hospital wards, assisting with hospital discharges. Assessing patients equipment and care needs to ensure patients are appropriately set up to safely manage at home. Working as part of a wider MDT. Liaising with patients and their family members daily. Planning when senior support required to assist with complex patient cases.
To what extent do you enjoy your programme?
3/5
Mixed- overall the course has been engaging and interesting. Very well supported by my workplace. Difficulty at times with online learning, more difficult to engage at times. Varied input from lecturers, some more engaging than others. At times, struggle to see the relevance of self directed work allocated, would be more beneficial to have these as taught lectures,
Skills Development
Have you learnt any new skills or developed existing skills?
4/5
Interpersonal skills- gaining social history from patients. Manual handling training and assessing which manual handling equipment is most appropriate for each patient. Working as part of an MDT. Assessing equipment needs for patients. Taking medical observations (blood pressure, RR, O2 sats.) Assessing care needs of patients and liaising with social workers to organise.
Structure and Support
How well organised/structured is your programme?
4/5
Very well structured- any changes to timetable usually communicated in a timely manner. Timetable shared at beginning of term to allow plenty of time to re-schedule/ plan things around lectures accordingly. At times, some of the group work lectures appear to be better suited to lectures when we are face to face but are instead delivered online.
How much support do you receive from your employer?
4/5
Very well supported by work place assessor and team that I work within. Regular supervisions and check ins to discuss well- being and progress on the course.
Well supported by mentor- struggle at times to know the true role of the mentor but have found it beneficial to check in with someone externally.
Well supported by mentor- struggle at times to know the true role of the mentor but have found it beneficial to check in with someone externally.
How much support do you receive from your training provider when working towards your qualifications?
5/5
Very well supported by my workplace assessor- takes time to work through required work to be completed as part of the course. regular check ups. I know how to access support if requires and feel that if I did have an issue, then this would be addressed with confidence and consideration.
How well do you feel that your qualification (through your training provider) helps you to perform better in your role?
4/5
Difficult at present to relate work learnt during lectures to workplace- feel that this will be easier to do in future years. Have started to work towards KSB's with workplace assessor using case studies of patients that I have worked with on the ward. Able to apply work from anatomy and physiology module easily to day to day work.
Are there extra-curricular activities to get involved in at your work? (For example, any social activities, sports teams, or even professional networking events.)
4/5
Social events as part of my team. Professional networking events available but not yet completed- OT events. Regular work place training compeleted- both virtually, online training and face to face training . Sports teams, community work, leisure groups, voluntary initiatives available at my workplace but I am not involved with any at present.
Recommendations & Advice
Would you recommend NHS to a friend?
Yes
Why?
Supportive teams who value hard work. Opportunities to progress in job role. Good support with onward training- both in house and externally. Good level of training at start of job role. large variety of work and interactions with patients. Opportunity to work alongside lots of different professions. Security to role.
What tips or advice would you give to others applying to NHS?
Show interest in job role and a passion for progressing to a qualified role. When interviewing, apply clinical reasoning and client centred focus to answers. Play to your strengths when choosing a case study to discuss in the interview. Use previous experience to reinforce why you want to complete the course.
