A partnership between The Open University , Leeds Beckett University and Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust has won the 2020 North East and Yorkshire NHS Parliamentary Award for Wellbeing at Work.
The Future You Partnership was launched in September this year, providing an apprenticeship route for both experienced and aspiring healthcare workers in Leeds to gain the practical skills and qualifications they need to start a new career as a Nursing Associate or Registered Nurse.
Winners of the regional round of the NHS Parliamentary Awards were handpicked by judges drawn from across the NHS and were selected from over 700 nominations across 10 categories.
It will now go head-to-head with other winners from across the country to be judged by a national panel made up of senior leaders representing NHS staff and patients at a ceremony in the House of Commons in July 2021.
Balvinder Johal, Head of Business Development (Health) at The Open University, said:
We are thrilled that the Future You Partnership has won this award, this really is a testament to the hard work of the Leeds Teaching Hospitals team in creating an innovative programme bringing together two universities to support and encourage local people into nursing through an apprenticeship.
We are supporting over 35 nurse associates and this number is set to grow each year. The Open University pathway offers a nursing career to those healthcare workers who prefer to study flexibly online and wouldn’t meet the traditional university entry requirements.
Students on the programme are employed as Trainee Nursing Associates within the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and combine study for a Foundation Degree at either The Open University or Leeds Beckett with work placements across a range of specialities.
This is followed by a year working as a Nursing Associate, developing skills and practice.
Students may then progress to the two-year Apprentice Nurse programme, leading to a BSc (Hons) Nursing degree and Registered Nurse status.
Students who opt to study through The Open University have the support of tutors, learning new skills online alongside their job role, which are then put into practice immediately, for the benefit of patients and service users. The first cohort of 31 students began in September, with a second intake of 43 students starting in January 2021.
For full details about the programme, entry requirements and how to apply, visit The Open University’s website for more information on OU apprenticeships.
