Organised in partnership between Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals (DBTH), Hall Cross Academy and other health, social care and educational organisations in the area, ‘We Care – Into the Future’ is an opportunity for local youngsters to understand what the NHS and care sector has to offer them upon completing their studies.
Returning for the second year in a row, the event will feature nurses, doctors and other health and social care professionals representing a wide-range of careers and opportunities within local services. An interactive session, the fayre will also simulate a patient’s journey through a hospital, with live demonstrations from paramedicine through to the Emergency Department, surgery, a ward setting and community care.
A number of stalls, stands and hands-on booths will also be available for students to visit and speak face-to-face with health and care professionals.
Dr Alasdair Strachan, Director of Education and Research at DBTH, said: “Last year, this event was a fantastic opportunity for over 800 local young people to meet health professionals from a number of professions and specialities and start to think about their future. We can’t wait to do it all over again.
“Health and social care offers a wide-range of career prospects, from patient-facing roles to those accountants, IT experts and trades-people, who we do not associate as closely with organisations such as the NHS, but are just as essential in ensuring a hospital like ours can function. We Care Into the Future is a fantastic opportunity to kick-start those conversations with young people, encouraging them to begin thinking about what comes after their education.”
At Doncaster Royal Infirmary alone there are over 250 different professions, from patient-facing clinicians to those in crucial back-office functions, all working together to deliver high quality patient care and treatment.
This is an invitation-only event and is currently being offered to every secondary school within Doncaster. All organisations involved will be soon looking at expanding the event to Worksop in the future.
During the event, representatives will be available from Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals, NHS Doncaster Clinical Commissioning Group, Doncaster Council, Rotherham Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation Trust, Age UK, the South Yorkshire Region Excellence Centre, Dunniwood Lodge Care Home, Hall Cross Academy, Sheffield Hallam University, the University of Sheffield, Doncaster College and Doncaster Chamber.
This latest event is part of the award-winning work which was formally launched between Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals and Hall Cross Academy in 2018 – the former becoming the UK’s first Foundation School in Health.