The Foundation School in Health (FSiH)
Organisation: Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Location: Doncaster and Bassetlaw
Population served: Over 440,000 across South Yorkshire, North Nottinghamshire, and the surrounding area
In October 2018 the UKs first Foundation School in Health (FSiH) was introduced in Doncaster in partnership with Hall Cross Academy and DBTH.
A first of its kind, the partnership achieved many of its objectives prior to the pandemic including the introduction of a work experience framework, an annual Health and Care careers event for all Y8s from across the borough and innovative ways of engaging with our young people to challenge their perceptions and raise their aspirations.
The further ambition of introducing a second FSiH in Bassetlaw to not only afford our young people of Bassetlaw the same opportunities at DBTH and beyond was unfortunately halted due to COVID.
Since then, DBTH have found themselves in a unique position of recruiting and sustaining a future workforce across two Integrated Care Systems (ICS) and as such the introduction of a FSiH at Bassetlaw was even more of a priority in ensuring that we support socio economic growth and its associated health benefits for all of our young people and their families.
Intended impact
The project aims were to support the introduction of the first FSiH in Bassetlaw which would afford our young people of Bassetlaw the same opportunities as those in Doncaster to enable parity across both ICS’s. The first stage was to identify key stakeholders and to identify a school, following this we planned to launch the partnership identify measurable and innovative plans for the first 3 years of the partnership.
How the programme was delivered
The first stage was to identify key stakeholders ensuring there was robust governance in place and to recruit a project assistant to support the planning and the implementation of this project. Due to difficulties in recruiting a project assistant and the associated timeline, DBTH utilised existing resources to progress the plan as agreed with the Health Foundation and NHS England via the Test and Learn programme.
The next stage of the project was to identify a school and agree an overview of the project aims. Having worked with Retford Oaks pre-pandemic, DBTH and Retford Oaks already had a close partnership with shared ambition for the young people of Bassetlaw. Replicating the partnership with Hall Cross Academy we identified this as an opportunity to formalise the partnership to enable us to work across the school years promoting the many career pathways in health and care and more specifically at DBTH.
Once the partnership was agreed, a launch date was confirmed, and the initial start-up costs were funded by the Health Foundation and NHS England via the Test and Learn programme. The launch took place on the 12th of October 2022, and since then, DBTH and Retford Oaks have kickstarted their partnership with a range of innovative activities.
Recruitment is now underway for the role of the Health Career Ambassador at DBTH inviting existing staff members to join this project and ensure sustainability.
What is the future of this programme?
The long-term aims are:
To increase the number and social profile of students entering healthcare professions, which includes supporting roles and direct care professions in health and care.
Indirectly, to also support aspirations into employment with the associated health benefits to the individuals and the community.
To outline best practice to engage with other schools.
Advice for others doing similar work
Having a clear timeline of planned activities has been vitally important in enabling us to achieve our shared outcomes, particularly in the absence of a project support assistant.
Clear communication and regular meetings with all involved have enabled us to sense-check progress.
Maintaining an open dialogue with the project support group has also enabled us to continue with our efforts and avoid potential barriers along the way.
To find out more, contact Kelly Turkhud at Kelly.turkhud@nhs.net