Supporting Reservists at Oxford Health

Reserves Pharmacist Louise looks forward to post-lockdown training camp

Supporting Reservists at Oxford Health

Reservists develop a broad range of skills in military service, such as integrity, dedication and teamwork – all transferable to the 350 available careers in the NHS.

At Oxford Health we recognise the exceptional values and behaviours that reservists can bring to our services as we strive to uphold our core values as a caring, safe and excellent Trust.

Louise Revell, a Medicine Management Technician at Chiltern Community Mental Health Team is an Army Reserves pharmacy technician, 202 Field Hospital. She said: “It was an easy decision to join Oxford Health. It has a lot in common with the armed forces with a focus on teamwork, structure and good leadership.”

When asked how the lockdown affected her Louise said: “All my military training is now done via Zoom. The annual camp has been cancelled but we will get the opportunity to join with a different unit later in the year.”

Di Woodward, Oxford Health’s Armed Forces Champion, said: “Upon joining the Step into Health programme, the Trust reviewed the support that we provided to reservists to identify how we could strengthen this.”

She added: “One of the improvements that we introduced was to offer an additional 10 days paid leave. This enables our reservists to attend their crucial annual training course without having to sacrifice some of their annual leave and time with their loved ones.”

Martyn Ward, Director of Strategy at Oxford Health, exec lead for the Step into Health programme is a veteran himself. He said: “The reserve forces provide a rich variety of funded training courses and practical training experiences to our reservists.

“These are skills that they are unlikely to learn in their day-to-day job and which not only benefit the Trust greatly now but will be integral in the future development and innovation of the services that we deliver.”

To find out about job opportunities at Oxford Health contact Diane Woodward, Armed Forces Champion, by emailing diane.woodward@oxfordhealth.nhs.uk

For information about joining other NHS Trusts you can visit the Military Step into Health here: https://www.militarystepintohealth.nhs.uk/

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Published: 24 June 2020