Course Overview
The supported internship programme has been developed in partnership with DFN Project SEARCH and a host employer the NHS. This is a 5-day internship based at the workplace.
The programme is aimed at young people aged 17-25 with an EHCP who are ready to make the transition from education and aspire to paid employment. Working with a work basedTutor and a Job Coach you will have the opportunity to learn and practice essential skills in a real working environment. You will rotate through three skill-building opportunities at the workplace to broaden your skillset and work in a variety of different settings. The workplace rotations will be matched to follow your career aspirations and interests.
Throughout the programme year, you will work towards a level 1 Certificate in Employability Skills and you will continue to develop your literacy and numeracy skills. Training room activities are designed around: Team Building, Workplace Safety, Technology, Maintaining Employment, Self Advocacy, Financial Literacy, Health and Wellness, and Preparing for Employment.
Examples of hospital rotations and skills to be taught:
- Clerical
Filing, data entry, other computer skills, phones, reception, meet and greet, information desk, digital scanning, coding.
- Portering
Records, materials, people, specimens,post, meals to the wards, ensuring that the wheelchairs are accessabe on the wards and moving beds.
- Non Clinical Patient Care
Personal support making a good cup of tea.
- Grounds
Mowing, strimming, planting.
- Maintenance
PAT testing, painting, changing lightbulbs, changing filters, fridges - temperature checking, waste management, mending and ensuring the site is safe and secure.
- Retail
Till work, fronting shelves, expiration date check.
- Sterile Services
Surgical kit assembly, sterilising (e.g. Gastro and scoping areas), wrapping jugs and bowls, stocking, picking up and prepping dirty side instruments.
- Pharmacy
Delivery, stocking, reporting, delivering orders to the wards.
- Labs
Centrifuge, glass cleaning and stocking, sterilising, changing chemicals delete.
- Medical Records
Filing, retrieving, purging, pulling documents, record transportation to clinics.
- Stores
Receiving, delivery, stocking, post room.
- Radiology
Digitalising x-rays, eliminating ghost imaging, transporting patients, delivering Xrays.
- Durable Medical Equipment
Equipment sterilisation, pick up and delivery (wheelchairs, incubators, IV pumps, isolettes).
- Catering
Hospitality (fridge stocking), meeting room set up, food handling (meal preparation, External meal delivery) cafe and kitchens work, Costa coffee and RVS shops.
- Domestics
Sanitary dispensers/infection control, floors, emergency room, ground floor windows, corridors and offices and wards.
- Laundry
Bagged and picked up from floors, counted, folded and returned to floors.
- Education
Room set up, AV, CPR doll maintenance.
Entry Requirements
There are no formal entry requirements but your place must be commissioned by the local authority. You must also be highly motivated and have a desire to secure a job after the programme concludes.
After Your Course
There is a likelihood that successful completion of the programme could lead to paid employment with the NHS. Nationally 5.1 percent of young people with learning difference gain employment yet 70 percent of those supported by DFN Project SEARCH and Kendal college secure paid roles after graduation.
