Workshop 3 content

Impact of Closed Cohorts On Regional Workforce Planning

Jayne Seagrave and Lindsay Hetko will be sharing their experiences of setting up close cohorts for AHP degree apprenticeship.

Jayne Seagrave works as an AHP Workforce Project Lead for the Derbyshire AHP Faculty. Organisations in Derbyshire were facing significant barriers to accessing Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy degree apprenticeships in particular, with challenges around entry requirements, backfill to support study and off the job learning, and accessibility of clinical placements being common across all organisations.

Lindsay Hetko works within the Lancashire and South Cumbria (LSC) AHP Workforce Programme Team, which are part of the Integrated Care Board (ICB). The system wide approach to apprenticeship was developed to support all organisations within the area to established collaborative working. This includes Social Care, NHS Trusts, and Private organisations.

This commonality led the two teams, to work collaboratively across their systems and share resources reducing duplication and minimising the impact of some of these barriers. The engagement within both systems has been positive, and organisations have been encouraged to be involved in regional procurement of course. The teams have provided overview of the system numbers of apprenticeship to make sure there are adequate placement opportunities

Derbyshire AHP Faculty has led on the procurement of an interprofessional Derbyshire cohort for OT and Physio with Sheffield Hallam University. The first cohort started in October 2022 with 17 OT and Physio apprentices, with a further cohort of approx. 25 apprentices planned for October 2023.

LSC AHP Workforce Team are involved with Radiotherapy, Speech and Language Therapy, Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy apprenticeships. As well as offering mentor support networks and touch points for feedback.