Becky Elsworth (left) and Gemma Donnelly

The event was led by Apprenticeship Manager Rebecca Elsworth and Interim Head of Learning & Development Gemma Donnelly. All attendees were treated to cake and goody bags of treats – and what better time to celebrate than on the approach to the national Apprenticeship Week 6-12 February!

The team were nominated by Education Quality Assurance Lead Robyn Venables, who drew on her submission on the recent Ofsted inspection which saw the team rated Good in all areas.

Robyn wrote:

“The difference the Apprenticeship Team make to colleagues is evidenced in the Ofsted report: ‘Leaders have successfully used their apprenticeship offer to fill skills gaps, widen participation, and introduce new routes for staff to progress their careers.’

“The impact on apprentices is that they can embark on their dream career or progress to the next job; the impact on managers is that their staff member is more confident, skilled and motivated; and the impact on the Trust is that we have more people in the right roles and with the correct level of education.

“The difference this makes to patients, service users and carers is that Oxford Health employees are competent in their job and able to display the values of Caring, Safe and Excellent.”

Robyn also noted:

“The Ofsted report is the most positive report of all NHS apprenticeship providers nationwide and it has not gone unnoticed; Becky is going to be on a panel at a national apprenticeship conference, speaking about our excellent provision and how the team managed to achieve such an excellent inspection outcome.

“The Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner and Nurse Cadet Apprenticeship programmes developed by the team were the first of their kind available across all education providers nationwide. The team has shared their good practice and lessons learnt with other trusts planning to run the programmes.

“The Apprenticeship Team are in a unique position, as they can reach into every team within the Trust, meaning they can role-model the values and support the mission of the Trust everywhere. Along with the wider Learning & Development and Human Resources teams, they are making Oxford Health a really great place to work.”

Learn more about our apprenticeship programmes

For further information about the apprenticeship programmes that we offer, please take a look here or email apprenticeships@oxfordhealth.nhs.uk