Welsh Ambulance Service celebrates National Apprenticeship Week

 

 

The WELSH Ambulance Service is celebrating National Apprenticeship Week 2017.

Apprenticeship Week runs from March 6-10 and champions the positive impact apprenticeships have on individuals, businesses and the economy.

The Trust currently has a number of young apprentices working for the organisation in its fleet and administration departments.

Tammy Bishop from Wrexham has worked with the Trust as an apprentice vehicle technician for the last two-and-a-half years as part of her Automotive Engineering course at Coleg Cambria.

In that time the 23-year-old has successfully achieved her Level Three qualification, as well as gaining her Heavy Goods Vehicle licence, and is based in the workshop at the new Ambulance and Fire Services Resource Centre in the town.

Tammy said: “At first I was training to be a chef but I didn’t like that in the real world. I think I always really wanted to do automotive engineering, but never wanted to go on the course because it was full of lads.

“That was until a few of people from my catering course came across which is what encouraged me to do it.

“The Trust got in touch with my tutor at college to offer the apprenticeship and they told me I should go for it.

“It’s been good and a lot different from working in a normal garage. We service the vehicles including if any of the ambulances have to come off the road.

“We have to service the inside of the ambulance as well, including the stretchers and spine boards and the electrics are different and quite complicated.

“Working for the Trust looks good for anyone if you can say you’ve worked on ambulances.”

Tammy is one of four apprentice vehicle technicians currently working for the ambulance service, with others based at its workshops in Bangor, Cardiff and Blackwood.

Meanwhile, Demi Tamplin and Rhiannon Harries, both from Swansea, started in their roles as apprentice business secretaries last July as part of their NVQ Diploma in Business Administration in partnership with Gower College Swansea.

The programme is funded by the Welsh Government with money from the European Social Fund.

Demi, 23, who provides administrative support to the Head of Clinical Operations, said: “I really enjoy my job and working with the people here at the Welsh Ambulance Service. They are really helpful and I have learnt so much on the job.

“I hope to use the skills I have gained from the qualification, and from my experience within the Trust in my future career.”

Rhiannon, 19, who supports the Deputy Director of the Medical and Clinical Services, said: “I have been an Apprentice Secretary for the Trust since July 2016. Having been one for over half a year now, I can say it was the best decision I made.

“Being able to earn money whilst still receiving a qualification means that I have the best of both worlds.”

To mark Apprenticeship Week, the service will have staff on hand at an event on Monday 13 March at Coleg Llandrillo in Rhos-on-Sea to talk to students from across Conwy and Denbighshire about apprenticeships and careers.

In addition to its young apprentices, existing members of staff from across the Trust are currently extending their knowledge by undertaking apprentice qualifications funded by the Welsh Government.

Colleagues within various roles are on the path to gaining customer service, contact centre, business administration, team leading and management qualifications. 

Last year long-serving paramedic Dermot O’Leary picked up a prestigious award for the lengths he took to further his education.

Dermot, who is based in Rhyl Ambulance Station, won the Management Apprentice of the Year Award at Coleg Llandrillo’s Apprenticeships Awards Ceremony.

The Clinical Team Leader was recognised for the work he produced while studying for his ILM Level 3 Diploma in Leadership Management.

He said: “It was all about the principles of effective management so what makes a leader and a manager, as well as problem solving and delegation.

“We currently have a team leading programme for Clinical Team Leaders as they’ve seen the benefits and the rewards it can bring.”

Claire Vaughan, Executive Director of Workforce and Organisational Development at the Welsh Ambulance Service, said: “We recognise the value that apprenticeships bring to us as an organisation and to our staff in creating accessible routes into careers.

“We already offer apprenticeship opportunities within our fleet and administrative teams, and it’s an important part of our ongoing plans to develop more apprenticeship roles within the organisation and increase the opportunities available.”