Innovative health and social care careers fair returns to the Doncaster Dome for students

The event will feature a simulated corridor showing a patient’s journey from the community to the emergency department, operating theatres, a hospital ward and back to the community.

Using actual teams of staff involved in care will provide attendees with an insight into the real world of health and social care work.

From there, the young people will be able to access approximately 50 stands highlighting over 350 careers.

The stands will also be facilitated by health and social care staff from across Doncaster, who will together challenge the perceptions of available roles within health care and raise the aspirations of our young people.

The students will also have the opportunity to interact with a range of education providers who will advise and guide them on the range of vocational and academic pathways available. The event will be a highly interactive experience.

The event organisers approached all secondary schools within the Doncaster area to invite their year 8 students to the day.

There has been an impressive uptake, with attendance up from 800 attendees in 2019 to an expected 1,400 students this year.

Dr Alasdair Strachan, Director of Education and Research at Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals (DBTH) said: “We received fantastic feedback after we held the first ‘We Care into the Future’ event, and we expect this year will be even better, as we have had a much bigger response from our local schools this year post-COVID.

"We are grateful that the current situation with COVID has improved and now we can return to hosting the face-to-face careers event. We hope this continues, so we can keep providing this invaluable experience for our local children for future years to come.

“Health and social care offers a wide range of career prospects, from patient-facing roles to accountants, IT experts and tradespeople, many of which are not usually associated with careers in health and social care but are just as essential in ensuring a hospital like ours can function.

"We Care into the Future is a fantastic opportunity to kick-start those conversations with young people, encouraging them to begin thinking about what comes after their education.”

Simon Swain, Principle for Hall Cross Academy – A Foundation School in Health, said: “This is an exciting day ahead for the students of Doncaster to get a comprehensive feel for what options they can consider when thinking about the next steps in their education.

"Many children are not aware of the breadth of roles on offer, so this is a crucial way we can support both our children in making decisions about their future and ensure that we are creating a workforce capable of supporting healthcare services into the future.”

At Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals there are over 250 different career pathways, from patient-facing roles to those in non-patient facing roles.

During the event, representatives will be available from Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals, Rotherham Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation Trust, Yorkshire Ambulance Service, Doncaster Council, Primary Care Workforce Hub, Doncaster Clinical Commissioning Group, Sheffield Hallam University, The University of Sheffield, Doncaster College, Dunniwood Lodge, Age UK, and Opportunities Doncaster.

In these confusing and worrying times, local journalism is more vital than ever. Thanks to everyone who helps us ask the questions that matter by taking out a subscription or buying a paper. We stand together. Nancy Fielder, editor.