Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundations Trust’s (WWL) Estates and Facilities Department is celebrating recruiting a team of new apprentices for the first time in 15 years.
The Trade and Engineering apprentices will be trained to support the great work that WWL’s Estates and Facilities teams carry out to keep all its hospitals and community premises maintained and in good repair, while gaining recognised engineering qualifications and being part of an award-winning team at the same time.
The four-year course for school or college leavers was to recruit to roles in the areas of Medical Electronics, Maintenance Electrician and Maintenance Mechanical Fitter. These roles can lead to a wide variety of work to support NHS healthcare, including servicing, maintaining and repairing medical devices and specialist healthcare electrical systems, or specialist ventilation and plumbing systems.
John Fairhurst, Director of Estates and Facilities, said: “The NHS offers a wide variety of career pathways and, as WWL is recognised as being a major employer in Wigan and its surrounding areas, we have a social value responsibility to our young people to support them into employment. WWL has also developed links with other employers across the Borough so that our apprentices also get non-NHS experience to ensure they have a breadth of learning. Through recognised engineering apprenticeships such as these, we can offer a wonderful career opportunity in healthcare engineering and become the highly qualified workforce of the future for the NHS.”
Speaking during National Apprenticeship Week (February 10th – 16th), Owen Hook, a Medical Electronics Apprentice, 19, from Wigan, said: “I’ve always had an interest in engineering from a young age and the chance to work with medical devices and contribute to healthcare was incredibly appealing, especially given the NHS’s reputation for excellence and innovation. I applied for the apprenticeship because I wanted to gain hands-on experience in the field of medical electronics and the opportunity to shadow senior engineers and learn directly from their expertise. NHS apprenticeships offer a fantastic opportunity to earn while you learn and you’ll gain practical, on-the-job training while learning from experienced professionals, providing a solid foundation for your career, plus, you’ll be part of a team that values learning and development.”
Andrew Walder, an 18-year-old Medical Electronics Apprentice, from Standish, Wigan, said: “I enjoyed doing practical tasks at college and I thought an apprenticeship would work well for me as it is more hands-on, and I can learn new things. Going out to the wards and different sites across WWL while learning how to service or try to fix different medical equipment is interesting and I would strongly advise anyone to apply for an NHS apprenticeship and really make the most of the opportunity.”
Sam Major, a 19-year-old Mechanical and Plumbing Maintenance Apprentice, from Wigan, said: “Doing this apprenticeship will hopefully open many different opportunities for me to progress in this career, I would definitely encourage others to apply for an NHS apprenticeship, each day is totally different.”
Alex Slater, 19 from Wigan, is on an Electrical Maintenance Apprenticeship. He said: “I knew that the NHS would be a good place to work and provide me with a good opportunity to become fully qualified. I have always known that I wanted to be an electrician, but I hadn’t considered that I could do this within the NHS.”
Owen Daniels, a Medical Engineering Technician, who manages some of the apprentices, said: “Each one of our apprentices brings fresh perspectives, enthusiasm, and a willingness to learn, which promotes a dynamic and innovative work environment. Their eagerness to engage with new technologies and processes also encourages knowledge sharing within the team, reinforcing best practices, and improving overall efficiency. We look forward to seeing our apprentices grow into skilled professionals who will continue to enhance the field of Electrical and Biomedical Engineering.”
For more information on apprenticeships at WWL visit the website here.