Spire’s nurse apprenticeships to tackle shortages
Private healthcare provider Spire Healthcare has revealed plans to help tackle the nursing shortage.
It has launched a new nurse degree apprenticeship programme in partnership with the University of Sunderland, with roles available across Spire’s 35 English hospitals. Up to 270 nurse degree apprentices are being looked for.
Placements will be delivered at a Spire hospital as well as at the local NHS trust and GP practice.
Spire currently has 25 nurse degree apprentices enrolled on an existing programme who are due to graduate in October 2021. The private healthcare provider also offers a wide range of clinical and non-clinical apprenticeships.
The nurse degree apprenticeship is open to applicants at all stages of life, including school leavers, university graduates and people looking to retrain. It is a work-based qualification providing apprentices with a combination of training and assessments via distancing learning and on-site placements applying practical knowledge.
Apprentices enjoy a flexible, work-based approach, combining university study and workplace learning to develop new knowledge, skills and thinking while completing a degree.
Spire said the benefit of the degree apprenticeship route is the ability to earn while learning, with a salary of between £18,000 and £21,000 depending on previous experience.
Each nurse degree apprenticeship will complete the programme with a BSc degree. Applications are open now, with successful applicants starting the programme in July 2021.
Spire’s Deborah Barker said: ‘The appeal of an apprenticeship has risen in recent years due to the increasing cost of the traditional university degree route. Covid-19 has then compounded this with classroom-based teaching disrupted over the course of 2020-21.
‘The programme has been developed to give people broad experience of healthcare in England, they will complete placements in Spire hospitals, NHS hospitals and in the community. This ensures that every apprentice gets a full-rounded experience of the role and is well-prepared for their future career in the sector.’
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