Before I started the Supported Internship Programme, I attended Shooters Hill Sixth Form College. I decided to join the Supported Internship Programme at Queen Elizabeth Hospital because I saw an opportunity to experience a working environment that would allow me to gain knowledge and transferable skills as well as hands-on work experience that I could use when applying for jobs.
The word that I would use to sum up my DFN Supported Internship journey is “eye opening”. This is because prior to my Supported Internship, the only jobs I associated to a hospital were doctors and nurses. However, now I have spent a year at Queen Elizabeth Hospital it has opened my eyes to the many opportunities inside departments. For example: the bedding needed for patient’s beds need to come from the pods in the linen room, the meals patients receive come from the restaurant (back of house).
My overall experience of this course has been invaluable because I have learnt many new skills and feel that I have grown stronger and more confident in myself. I have definitely become more independent and can now use different modes of transport on my own.
My highlights during my rotations, I would have to say that I have are:
- Working in Ward 21 – getting patient’s orders, serving their lunch, teas and coffees and unloading/loading the dishwasher. I was always on my feet which I enjoyed.
- The Ward issues and lifting items in Back of House. The Ward Issues are food items patients from different wards have ordered which I prepare and place on a cart for the porter to take to the wards
- Loading the pods with clean linen, another very physical role that I enjoyed
Since starting this programme I have learnt:
- How to become more sociable and I am now able to interact with people who I am unfamiliar with. For example, when wearing my ISS or Macmillan ward attire visitors would ask where specific places are in the hospital. At first, I used to be worried about being approached and scared of directing them in the complete opposite direction of where they want to go, however, now I have been doing this internship for a year I feel more comfortable in helping patients when assistance is needed.
- Confidence speaking up more. An example of this is when in Linen my colleague and I were confused on which day we cleaned the pods. I was very sure it was these particular days and my colleague thought the other days, nonetheless, we waited until the boss came in and he confirmed it was the days that I said.
In conclusion, the experiences of my Supported Internship at Queen Elizabeth Hospital will contribute to my future growth. I think that I am now closer to reaching my goal of being in full-time employment because of the experiences I have had in different apartments that will make me a strong candidate for roles that I may be interested in applying for.
Unity Works partners on Supported Internships in Greenwich and Lambeth. These are a structured, work-based study programme for young people with SEND, who have an education, health and care plan. We provide supported employment through our job coaches who work alongside college tutors to deliver tailored support to empower interns to succeed and develop in their career aspirations.
Find out more about our work in delivering Supported Internships.