When James Lowell finished school at 16 in the early 90s, he walked away with just three GCSEs. The south Londoner was left disillusioned by formal education and wanted to pursue a more vocational form of training where he could also earn some money at the same time. So he got a job as porter at Guy’s and St Thomas’ hospital in London.
“I was working from 3.30pm to 11pm so it wasn’t the most desirable hours, but it allowed me to get into a hospital environment and see what careers were available,” he says. And it wasn’t long before opportunity knocked.
“I was taking a patient who had sadly passed away on one of the wards to the mortuary when I met my future boss,” he remembers. “He was one of the heads of the anatomical pathology technology department in Guy’s and was really interesting.”
He explained to Lowell about the role of assistant pathologists in helping doctors in the dissection of deceased patients, pathology and physiology, as well as lending a hand with the administration of deaths and bereavements, and the facilitation of funerals. While Lowell presumed the role required some form of degree in medicine, to his surprise the manager told him he could learn on the job through an apprenticeship scheme.
After completing two years of training, he had gained a diploma and was a qualified anatomical pathology technologist. Best of all, he was earning a wage throughout. Lowell quickly moved up the ranks, replacing his former manager at the mortuary then moving up the management ladder in pathology, branching out into clinical services before studying for a master’s degree in business administration. He is now a general manager at the hospital, working across several departments.
While university used to be the most reliable option for young people hoping for a well-paid job after studying GCSEs and A-levels, apprenticeships are rapidly gaining in popularity among both school leavers and employers. The healthcare sector is no exception. According to Skills for Health analysis, more than 12,500 apprenticeships were completed in the health sector between 1 July 2014 and 30 June 2015.
Lowell has no regrets choosing an apprenticeship as a route into the profession. He explains that training on the job equipped him with the life skills needed to interact with people at all different levels in the hospital, from patients to doctors and support staff.
“That is one of my strengths now as a senior manager in the NHS,” he claims. “I can interact with anyone at any level of the organisation in way where I have a deep understanding of what those people actually do. I can appreciate more the workings of the organisation, the consequences of managerial decisions and how that actually affects the patients who are at the heart of everything we do.”
Of course apprenticeships aren’t the only alternative route into a career in healthcare.
Karen Jackson’s path to becoming chief executive of Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS foundation trust was rather more circuitous.
After gaining a degree in genetics from Liverpool University, she joined KPMG’s three-year trainee accounting scheme. She was soon persuaded by her friends and family who already worked in healthcare to move to the NHS because they needed some good accountants. She got a job in the trust’s finance department in 1993 and then six years ago was offered her current role.
Jackson claims her story shows that there isn’t just one route into the sector and there are plenty of exciting opportunities for people who have drive and can prove that they are good enough for the job.
She says: “I never felt there was a glass ceiling in the NHS. I was always offered opportunities and took them. Coming from a finance job to a chief executive role meant that the learning curve was very steep but you have got to embrace the opportunities when they come and show enthusiasm.”
As Jackson’s story illustrates, opportunities for people without a background in medicine are plentiful within the NHS. Whether you want to work in HR or IT, the health service has a huge range of non-clinical roles available and there are multiple entry routes.
But no matter what level where you start at – from apprentice to senior manager – and no matter which part of the service you join – clinical or non-clinical – you’ll be making a huge difference to patient care.
The chief executive of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Robert Calderwood, who joined the NHS in 1971 on what was then called a school leaver training scheme, says apprentices should be in no doubt that their role – no matter how small at the beginning – is a “very fulfilling and rewarding career in the context of the opportunities you get to make an impact on people’s lives”.
The Skills for Health chief executive, John Rogers, comments: “Apprentices make a significant contribution to our health and care support workforce within both clinical and non-clinical roles. Through our subsidiary, the National Skills Academy for Health, we work with employers to actively promote excellence, improvement and high quality training for apprentices to support career development.
“Through our recent #OurHealthHeroes campaign, which celebrates the support workforce, we have discovered numerous healthcare workers [who] started as apprentices and are now leading teams and inspiring the next generation of healthcare workers.
“The sector offers a variety of occupations and we are committed to ensuring apprentices get the best opportunities to help them perform to the highest standard, while doing the job they love.”
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