A few months ago, our DHU Academy began its’ first course as a learning provider, the Emergency Contact Handler Apprenticeship Programme.
Aimed at developing the careers of our current 111 Health Advisors, we caught up with Eleni Iezekil who is now a couple of months through the apprenticeship to see how it’s going…
“I’ve been at DHU for just over a year, wanting a change from managing our family business, a fish and chip shop, going from feeding the region to potentially saving lives. When I saw this opportunity to further my career, I gave it a shot, got through the application process and loving every minute.
Opening doors...
“What I really want to move towards is training and this apprenticeship will qualify me as a Coach, opening doors to progress in that direction but it’s already given me more than that. I want to learn more about communication, mental health awareness and receiving more experience and skills in handling complex, high-risk calls from patients, already listening in on Clinical Advisor calls.
“It’s the right time for me, I’m comfortable in the Health Advisor role, ready to take that next step and my hope is that this will open up more opportunities and responsibilities for me. I have protected time to complete online modules with a supportive manager and the intention is that DHU gets a more highly skilled HA ready for the next step and I get the chance to develop.
“I think it’s great that DHU has a learning facility like this, working with us, encouraging us to develop and grow within the role. I’m so enthusiastic about this opportunity and excited to see how far it can take me in 12 months’ time.”
Eleni and the first cohort of apprentices will be joined very shortly be a second group of 20 colleagues who begin the course towards the end of June. The hope is that similar courses can be developed for other areas of DHU including urgent, primary care and corporate teams.
It is the very first time that the DHU Academy has been able to put on a course as a learning provider, ensuring that the course can be tailor made for our people and geared towards what our patients need.