The St George’s Healthcare Shadowing Scheme won Health Education England’s national award for Widening Participation Work Exposure in June. The scheme provides disadvantaged Year 12 students from Wandsworth and Merton with a clinical work experience placement at St George’s or Queen Mary’s during the summer holidays.

The collaboration between the Trust and the University started in 2014. This summer clinical teams from across the Trust will be offering nearly 60 placements.

Annette Bygraves, training and development manager, says that this particular scheme offers a very rich experience as the high quality placements provided by the Trust are complemented by considerable support from the University’s widening participation team, led by Helen White.

This includes financial assistance, a named contact to provide additional support before, during and after the placement, a pre-placement induction session and a post-placement reflection session to discuss their experiences and recognise skills, personal growth and confidence gained for future applications and interviews.

Annette and Helen would like to thank all colleagues who support this scheme.

A former student commented:

“The scheme was amazing! It’s been such a valuable experience and I am so grateful for the opportunity. Everyone was so lovely and thoughtful. Thank you.”