Thanks to all our Proud to Care Ambassadors, who worked together at the National Apprenticeship Show at Westpoint on 30-31 January.  It was great to have representatives from Devon Partnership Trust, Royal Devon & Exeter hospital, Devon County Council, Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust and Livewell South West all working together to promote apprenticeships in health and care on behalf of all the STP organisations. 

Look out for our next Proud to Care advertising campaign to attract young people to careers in care and health. The advertising campaign, going live in mid-March, will focus on a short film clip of young care and health workers in their role to excite young people to find out more about the range of opportunities available. Look out for the film clip on Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, You Tube, Google and Proud to Care Devon. A special thanks to our Proud to Care Ambassador Phoebe from Bluebird Care, who was one of our film stars and to all the other film stars from RD&E (Acute Medical Unit (AMU), Bramble and Ashburn wards) and the Nichols Centre.  Pictured above is Phoebe filming with Val in Exmouth and below is Valerio and Bob on AMU.

On Sat 16 March we have an exciting new National Recruitment Event in Exeter, which is being advertised nationally.  It’s the first opportunity for all the health and social care providers in Devon to recruit to professional roles together under the Proud to Care banner.  See below for further information or email proudtocare@devon.gov.uk to get involved. 

We always appreciate your feedback, so please feel free to contact us proudtocare@devon.gov.uk.

Sally-Ann Turner

Proud to Care Devon

I knew from a young age that I wanted to be a part of the NHS, but wasn't sure where I fitted in.  After experimenting with a number of different ideas, from Doctor to Midwife to Clinical Scientist, I realised I simply wasn't suited to a clinical role.  I was less aware of the many varied non-clinical opportunities within the health and social care sector until one day I stumbled across the NHS Graduate Management Training Scheme at a careers fair while studying Biology at the University of Manchester.  I immediately knew that the training scheme was for me, and decided to apply for a place on the General Management stream.  After months of preparation and an intense recruitment process, I was delighted to find out that I had been successful in securing a place on the scheme for September 2016 based in the South West.

During my time as a General Management Trainee, I completed four placements which exposed me to a number of different parts of the care and health sector.  My first placement was at Devon Partnership Trust, a mental health Trust, where I worked in a strategic role as a service improvement manager within the organisational development department.  I then spent a short secondment within the operations support unit of the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, the local acute Trust.  I chose to spend my elective placement within social care commissioning at Devon County Council, where I had the pleasure of becoming involved with Proud to Care.  I then completed my training as an operations manager in the emergency department and acute medical unit of the acute Trust.  It was during this final placement that I discovered my true passion was in operational management, and particularly in urgent and emergency care.  It struck me that any one of us or our loved ones could at any time become a patient in the emergency department, and that these patients were often in their moments of greatest human need and vulnerability.  For some, their time in the emergency department would be their final experiences of life, and I wanted these experiences to be the best they could possibly be.

I was delighted to secure a post-training role as Cluster Service Manager for Urgent Care and have never looked back.  My role is exciting and varied, ranging from supporting patient flow through the hospital, to managing budgets.  I work closely with the medical, nursing, therapies and admin teams to ensure the efficient day-to-day running of the service, as well as supporting service improvement and development.  Never be fooled into thinking there isn't room for the skills and leadership of non-clinical staff in the health and care sector!