Medical Mavericks
Young people enjoyed a unique insight into potential careers within in the NHS when the Medial Mavericks tour visited their schools.
Like all areas, Warwickshire is experiencing significant skill shortages in the Healthcare Sector.However, this shortage is being addressed across the Coventry and Warwickshire NHS trusts with various activities and campaigns to boost interest in the sector and demonstrate the various routes into different professions.
Whilst County partners such as the Job Centre Plus, Colleges and different employability programmes actively support adults entering the sector, Warwickshire County Councils Skill's for Employment Programme offers a unique opportunity to support young people engaging with such sectors.
Working in partnership with Medical Mavericks and Coventry and Warwickshire’s NHS Apprenticeship Hub,the collaboration visited schools, including Stratford Upon Avon School. Pupils were given hands on experience with medical equipment whilst hearing more about NHS careers and the exciting new roles emerging for the workforce of tomorrow.
The session was led by Tom Warrender,from Medical Mavericks, who saw over 50 Year 10 and 11 pupils participate. During the morning session,pupils were given the opportunity to access medical equipment,take blood from a fake arm, record their own ECG, try keyhole surgery, see inside their body with an ultrasound machine, take a picture of the inside of their eye and much more.
During the workshop, every pupil recorded medical observations and was given a printout of their ECG. During this activity pupils also gathered career information from the Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Apprenticeship Hub team who recently launched their services to provide links to local careers and training.
Cllr Izzi Seccombe, Leader of Warwickshire County Council and portfolio holder for economic development said: “We hope this initiative is a win-win situation for the Healthcare sector and young people. As a priority sector and one which directly effects the health and wellbeing of Warwickshire communities, it is important we do everything we can to support Healthcare in attracting and retaining the right talent to support our changing high demand services.
Tom Warrender at Medical Mavericks said: “It is great to be working in partnership with Warwickshire County Council to deliver these workshops. We’re trying to show the students all the amazing jobs available in the NHS which has over 300 careers on offer. There are dozens and dozens of careers these students could go into with just 5 good GCSEs including maths, English and science. We’re showcasing apprenticeships, the university route and healthcare science which do 85% of diagnostic tests in hospitals, so it’s not just about doctors and nurses.”
Lily a Year 11 student at Stratford upon Avon School said: “I’m at this workshop to get an insight into what careers are available in the NHS. It’s interesting to see the technology and hear about what happens on a day to day basis and I would love to go into dentistry as my career so I’m really looking forward to finding out more.”
Another year 11 student, Connor said: “I feel this workshop has been really good as I’m not sure what sector in healthcare I would like to go into, and I feel like today will help me make a decision in which career path to go down.”
Warwickshire County Council Business Skills Lead Fay Winterburn said: "There has recently been a huge increase in the number of people, particularly young people,wanting to work in the health and social care sector as a result of the covid-19 climate. Through increased exposure to who our ‘key workers’ are during this time, it has been eye-opening to many to see the vast range of job opportunities within the NHS and other care settings and understand how important they truly are to our society.
"Clap for Carers has been one example of the promotion of the importance of health care settings and as we look forward to our next generation we can see clearly they are a generation focused around making an impact and a change to society.
"The Medical Mavericks tour was hugely successful and gave young people an opportunity to think about what careers there are in health care but also how to learn more about the routes into them.As we learn more about the changing economy and what youth market wants we would like to support young people in making that step into a career of their choice.
"We are excited to be working on this important topic with the NHS and social care partners to really promote and showcase the opportunities within this dynamic and exciting sector."
If you are a school, college or business and would like to find out more visit: or to contact the team Email:skillshub@warwickshire.gov.uk
