Colchester Institute and local hospitals unite to fill NHS roles.
On 1st November leaders from the East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust (ESNEFT) and Colchester Institute met to sign a Memorandum of Understanding between their two organisations. This agreement outlines both parties’ commitment to working in collaboration, primarily to assist the local hospitals’ Trust to recruit to key roles, whilst enabling College leavers to put the skills and knowledge they’ve learned on a range of Health and Care courses to good use.
The meeting took place in the brand-new Centre for Health and Social Care Professions at Colchester Institute, and was attended by leaders from both organisations. Discussions took place on a wide range of themes, including workplace visits and work placements and bespoke programmes designed to prepare students to go straight into much needed roles at the hospital – either straight from College, or after university. Such roles might include radiography, sonography, biomedical science, nursing, midwifery or as Healthcare Assistants.
Suzanne Kinsey, Head of Access, Health and Social Care and Science at Colchester Institute explained that the College’s courses, at Level 3 (A Level equivalent) were the perfect training ground for future hospital staff whether in laboratories, diagnostic settings or on the wards. “By working more closely with our colleagues in ESNEFT, we can ensure that we are providing the exact skills that are most in demand and that will make our students invaluable future recruits to the hospital.”
Signing the Memorandum with Kate Read, ESNEFT’s Director of People and Organisational Development; Alison Andreas, Principal and Chief Executive at Colchester Institute said “This commitment between two key anchor institutions in North Essex, is long overdue. We are really excited about the many opportunities that this brings to both our local hospitals and to the College. We already have some exciting projects in the pipeline and the list is only set to grow.”
Kate Read added “On behalf of ESNEFT, I am delighted to confirm our on-going commitment to work closely with Colchester Institute to provide opportunities to support and shape the future careers of local students.”
