The coronavirus pandemic has highlighted the great importance of our entire health and social care workforce. 

From nurses, midwives and paramedics through to physiotherapists and physician associates, students and graduates of the University of Worcester have been among those working on the frontline, supporting people and communities in recent weeks.

The University is one of the country’s leading educators of healthcare professionals and has a long history of helping people of all ages and from all backgrounds to take their first steps towards a rewarding career in the NHS.

Deborah Calverley decided to train as a paramedic as her children got older and has recently been one of those working on the frontline. The 41-year-old said she had talked about it for years but did not think was achievable.

Evesham Journal:

“It was a conversation I had with my brother-in-law, who’s a nurse.  I’ve have known him for 24 years and he said ‘you always wanted to be a paramedic. I know lots [of them] and you’d be great.’ It was like a lightbulb had gone off, so I started looking into it.”

Deborah completed an access course, then chose Worcester, convinced by the friendliness of the lecturers and the support for mature students.

Student nurse Ricky Baker said he wanted to challenge the idea that men couldn’t become children’s nurses. Now at the end of his three-year degree and shortlisted for no less than three awards in the process, 28-year-old Ricky says that studying at Worcester opened a new world of opportunities.

“The University has opened the door to several opportunities, actively encouraging me to make a positive impact as a student nurse, for which I am eternally grateful,” he said.

This year marks 25 years of nurse education at the University. During that time, the University has trained many tens of thousands of professionals who are now working in hospitals, GP surgeries and care settings locally, nationally and across the world.

With a reputation for the highest quality provision, partnership working and delivery, the University plays a leading role in researching and developing innovative and creative solutions in health and wellbeing, such as establishing the UK’s first masters in physician associates, to help meet the changing needs of the health service. 

Students at Worcester benefit from well-qualified, creative, enthusiastic, supportive staff and have access to some exceptional learning facilities. The University has invested in excellent skills and simulation facilities to support learning, including a psychology laboratory, skills rooms and a specially adapted house for the training of health professionals working in the community. 

The University is currently shortlisted for Nurse Education Provider of the Year (pre-registration), Best Student Experience and Teaching Innovation of the Year in the Student Nursing Times Awards. Four Worcester students are also shortlisted in the awards, and Wye Valley NHS Trust’s Children’s Ward has been shortlisted for Student Placement of the Year: Hospital. 

Earlier this academic year, Worcester was shortlisted for University of the Year in both the UK Social Mobility Awards and was named Sustainability Institution of the Year in the Green Gown Awards. 

The University works in close collaboration with employers, including the NHS, County Councils and a range of voluntary and private sector employers and Worcester graduates are among the most employable in the Country.  

The University is currently well advanced in working towards the creation of the Three Counties Medical School, which will see it expand its expertise in health care education and provide much-needed training for doctors across these communities.  

To find out more about healthcare courses at the University of Worcester visit: www.worcester.ac.uk