INTRODUCTION
There is an increase in the number of schools and colleges wishing to broaden students understanding of the ‘world of work’. Therefore, this policy has been developed and covers individuals who, as part of a work experience placement, carry out particular tasks, observes or shadows a member of staff employed by BrisDoc, with an emphasis on the learning aspect of the experience. In the main, our work experience programme will involve students from local schools and colleges aged between 14 years and 18 years old and include a period of up to 5 working days. This policy does not apply to clinical or non-clinical students in higher education on formal placements as part of their course.
In addition to the BrisDoc Work experience programme, we are part of a wider pan-Bristol scheme organised by the North Bristol Trust. The students interested in applying must be based at partnership Bristol schools and they must be in the lower sixth form. This programme runs once a year and students will be able to get a whole medical experience including hospital and other services, as well as the opportunity of coming out to Primary Care. The North Bristol Trust work experience programme is co-ordinated through local schools and information can be found at https://www.nbt.nhs.uk/careers/career-options/work-experience.
2. Purpose
This policy sets out the standards for the provision of work experience across all services within BrisDoc Healthcare Services. All work experience placements must be formally arranged and registered through the People Team. Managers must follow the correct procedures and cannot make arrangements directly with schools, colleges or the individuals themselves.
2.1 Objectives of work experience
2.1.1. To promote the medical profession to school aged students in order to create a sustainable workforce for the future that will meet patients demand.
2.1.3 Students and young people should not be used to replace permanent staff. Every effort should be made to provide a structured course of training and experience which will assist them to obtain future permanent paid employment.
In line with our Business Focus, we are committed to:
3. Roles and Responsibilities
3.1 People Team
BrisDoc’s People Team is responsible for the following duties associated with work experience placements:
- Providing full pastoral care to the student through the course of their placement.
- Ensuring a robust recruitment and selection process is undertaken for all students applying for a placement (please see flowchart in Appendix A). A minimum level of selection criteria will apply for an applicant on work experience.
- Including all necessary pre-programme checks, this includes an honorary contract which binds the student to certain terms and standards for their placement. If the individual is under 18 years of age their parent/guardian is asked to sign this contract giving permission for the placement to proceed. Additionally, a health declaration form, an identification check such as a passport or driving licence or birth certificate and National Insurance Card/Letter (for students 16 years and over) in the absence of a passport or driving licence, references and an interview are undertaken.
In the case of concerns relating to the completed health declaration form, a student will be required to complete the health assessment form. The form will be sent to occupational health, who reserves the right to ask a work experience student to attend the department for an appointment if they believe it necessary to
do so. They will advise BrisDoc as to whether the student is fit to attend the work experience programme including whether any reasonable adjustments are necessary.
- Ensuring a young person’s risk assessment is undertaken by the Hosting Manager in the area hosting the student’s placement (Appendix B).
- Designing placements which take into consideration age requirements, the capabilities of the student and the student’s personal career aspirations/the objectives of the work experience.
- Providing the student with a full induction to BrisDoc at the start of the placement, including health and safety requirements, security, confidentiality and data protection.
- Arranging placements without detriment to the care/dignity of patients or the health and safety of the individual on placement.
- Once a placement is agreed, the People Team will be responsible for confirming it with the student and the department concerned, sending a confirmation letter to the student, and giving reporting instructions, such as contact name, start time, length of placement and department location. Additionally, the People Team will inform the department / Hosting manager of the arranged placement.
3.2 BrisDoc Healthcare Services
- Reserves the right to refuse placement where it does not consider either the student or the placement is suitable.
- BrisDoc accepts responsibility for the health and safety of students whilst on BrisDoc premises and in BrisDoc’s cars and has insurance cover through BrisDoc’s public liability insurance.
3.3 Hosting Managers
Hosting Managers are responsible for the following:
- Providing local orientation at the start of a student’s placement in their department area, including clarification of the fire evacuation procedures and first aid arrangements.
- Undertaking a risk assessment of the area in which the placement is due to occur or on day 1 of the placement (Appendix B). The risk assessment will be available for the educational establishment to see if necessary.
- Ensuring robust health and safety provision relating to the temporary placement of individuals is met, including restrictions on hours and work breaks (Appendix C).
- Ensuring there is effective and strict supervision of the individuals on work placements at all times. Students must not at any time be left on their own unaccompanied by a member of staff.
- Preparing information material for patients to advise on the student’s presence (e.g. information on the door of consulting room) and the option to opt out of this presence if they wish.
- Ensuring placements are without detriment to patient care and the privacy and dignity of the patient is respected at all times.
- Students accepted for work experience should receive the same rights and privileges as a permanent member of staff and should be provided with appropriate specialised protective clothing and safety equipment.
- Should a manager wish to terminate a placement during or in advance of the expected date, they should contact the People Team in the first instance.
3.4 Students on placements
Students on placements are responsible for the following:
- Complying with standards regarding confidentiality and data protection. If this is breached, the work experience placement will be terminated with immediate effect.
- Reporting on and off duty on each occasion to the appropriate department manager/doctor/nurse or Hosting Manager.
- Wearing suitable clothing and footwear for the work situation and adhering to BrisDoc’s Code of Expectations and Standards of Behaviour.
- It is the responsibility of a student to notify the relevant BrisDoc department or People Team to which they are allocated if they cannot attend a scheduled session.
- Being proactive in ensuring that they are supervised at all times and not left on their own unaccompanied by a member of staff.
- Advising the People Team or appropriate hosting manager/doctor/ nurse about any health or illness they have at the time of their placement.
- Wearing their BrisDoc identity badge provided by the People Team.
- Completing and returning the Daily Diary (Appendix F) to the People Team or Hosting Manager.
- Following the instructions as agreed by the Hosting Manager/Supervisor.
- Complying with Guidelines & Expectations for Honorary Contract holders and those undertaking Observer attachments and BrisDoc policies appropriate to the placement.
4. Selection Process
BrisDoc follows a robust ‘recruitment’ process for all students wishing to undertake work experience, in line with both NHS Careers guidelines and NHS Employers standards i.e. Verification of identity checks, reference checks and Occupational Health checks.
- Following a request for work experience, all individuals will be required to complete an application form, which must be counter-signed by the parent or guardian if the student is under the age of 18 years of age. All students will undergo an interview.
- With very few exceptions, a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check is not required for students who are coming in on work experience to purely observe or to enable them to make a decision on direction of further training or change in career. These individuals will be under strict supervision at all times throughout their work experience placement. This fully adheres to both NHS Careers and NHS Employers guidelines.
- Two references will be required from the educational establishment, (one of which should be from the Head Teacher or Principal who will have accountability for the student while they are here on placement) or place of work whichever is applicable.
- All students must return a signed form called student, parent and teacher agreement to BrisDoc requirements (Appendix E).
- All students on placement must sign a Confidentiality Statement and identity checks will be undertaken.
- A health declaration will be sought for all students irrespective of age. Where health issues are declared, the People Team will refer the individual to Occupational Health. Where the student is under the age of 18 years, a parental declaration upon the completion of a health questionnaire will be required, in addition to the student’s declaration. The parental declaration will include consent to having an Occupational Health referral where this is required.
- The People Team will check with the student on their first day of placement that they are well and free from symptoms of infection to ensure the student does not expose patients, visitors or staff to any healthcare risks. Where it is declared, the student will not be able to proceed with their placement.
5. The provision of Placements
- Clinical areas must ensure a student is not exposed to known risks such as acquired infection (e.g. Tuberculosis) and/or other known or suspected infections. Where the risk changes during a placement, the student must be removed from that clinical area.
- BrisDoc does not prohibit any individual from participating in clinical observations involving contact with patients. However, it is the responsibility of the person supervising the student in the clinical care of each patient to determine the extent of a young person’s involvement, taking into account the findings of the risk assessment and clinical protocols.
- The privacy and dignity of the patient should be respected at all times and where possible, the consent of the patient is sought before the student is allowed to be present or participate. It is recognised that on occasions it may not be possible to expressly seek the consent of the patient.
- Where appropriate patients, relatives and visitors should be made aware that any work experience student is not a medical, nursing or therapy student.
- Clinical priorities and/or patients’ wishes should always take priority over the educational experience of observers and therefore the People Team and/or hosting Manager should always use discretion when deciding what is appropriate for the student to observe.
- Work experience placements may be undertaken in the following areas when there is agreement on an individual basis, with the full involvement of the People Team and Department Manager, is part of a specific career pathway in healthcare, the student is aged 16 years and above and where necessary, an appropriate risk assessment is undertaken. These areas are known as ‘controlled access areas’:
- Out of Hours Base Appointments with Clinician
- Patients at their home treated by the Out of Hours Service
- GP Support Unit at Bristol Royal Infirmary
- Broadmead Medical Centre
- Charlotte Keel Medical Practice
- Northville Family Practice
- Bishopston Medical Practice
- Telephone triaging (second headset alongside triaging clinician)
- Headquarters and Office Areas
- Work experience placements are NOT allowed in the following areas/situations:
- Out of Hours Visits to Expected deaths and ‘Do Not attempt to Resuscitate patients’ (DNR)
- Terminally ill patients
- Child Immunization Clinics
- Consultations involving children that have not reached 18 years
- Vulnerable adults
- Observe/Listen to clinical appointments/ triage calls/review meetings of their family members or acquaintances who work in BrisDoc.
- There is likely to be some variation in levels of maturity and previous experiences amongst young people which needs to be taken into consideration when organising work experience placements.
5.8 Students aged 14 and 15 years are allowed to undertake placements in administrative areas only with no access to clinical areas but it’s important that they find their experience interesting and worthwhile.
For more information on suggested clinical tasks for work experience students please see Appendix D.
6. Practical considerations
It’s useful to expose young people to a variety of roles during their work experience. They get a wider appreciation of the range of the different aspects of healthcare, and responsibility for the students can be shared between different staff during their placement.
The Hosting Manager and Supervising staff should note the following:
- A full working day can be tiring for school children – pace the day accordingly.
- Young people should be in the company of a member of staff at all times, but it doesn’t always have to be the same person.
- They should be wearing a badge to identify themselves and what they are doing.
- Some students may be comfortable helping with a range of patient care-linked activities, but this should always be directed and supervised.
- Work experience offers opportunities for students to undertake projects that staff themselves may not have time for, for example, patient surveys and analysis of data or research.
7. Relatives of Staff
Contacts through family and friends have often initiated work experience opportunities. However, these students must also go through the standard procedure of notification, signing honorary contracts, carrying out risk assessments, in the same way as all other work experience students.
8. Change Register
The following changes have been made between the October 2014 (v1) Work Experience Policy and the December 2022 (v2.1) Work Experience Policy.
| Section | Change |
| 1 | Updated information on NBT Work Experience Programme |
| 5.6 | Updated available placement locations |
| Appendices | Reformatted |
| Entire Document | HR Department changed to People Team |
Appendix A -Recruitment process – flowchart
Appendix B – Risk Assessment For Work Experience Student
NAME OF WORK EXPERIENCE STUDENT:
ACCESS AREAS: START DATE:
HOSTING MANAGER(S):
SPECIFIC DISABILITIES:
| RISK SCORE | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| LIKELIHOOD OF OCCURRENCE | NEVER | UNLIKELY BUT POSSIBLE | AVERAGE CHANCE OF OCCURRING | OVER AVERAGE CHANCE OF OCCURRING | WILL HAPPEN FREQUENTLY |
| CONSEQUENCE OF OCCURRENCE | NO HARM | SOME HARM OR STRESS | MODERATE HARM OR STRESS | SEVERE HARM OR STRESS | FATAL HARM OR EXTREME STRESS |
RISK SCORE = NUMBER RELATING TO LIKELIHOOD X NUMBER RELATING TO CONSEQUENCE
EXTREME RISK MAX=475
HIGH RISK =MAX 305
NEUTRAL MAX=171
LOW RISK MAX =100
ASSESSMENT
| HAZARD | LIKELIHOOD OF OCCURRENCE | CONSEQUENCE OF OCCURRENCE | RISK SCORE | COMMENTS | ACTION NECESSARY |
| LONG PERIODS OF SITTING | (Max 25) | ||||
| LONG PERIODS OF STANDING | (Max 25) | ||||
| DEALING WITH VIOLENCE & AGGRESSION | (Max 25) | ||||
| DESK HEIGHT ADEQUATE FOR TASK |
|
(Max 25) |
|
||
| DESK IN GOOD CONDITION | (Max 25) | ||||
| SEATING POSITION ADJUSTABLE IN HEIGHT | (Max 25) |
| HAZARD | LIKELIHOOD OF OCCURRENCE | CONSEQUENCE OF OCCURRENCE | RISK SCORE | COMMENTS | ACTION NECESSARY |
| ASSISTANCE FROM CHAIR IN STANDING I.E ARMS OF CHAIR | (Max 25) | ||||
| ADEQUATE LIGHT | (Max 25) | ||||
| ADEQUATE TEMPERATURE OF ROOM | (Max 25) | ||||
| VENTILATION AVAILABLE | (Max 25) | ||||
| CONFINED SPACE | (Max 25) | ||||
| RISK FROM PASSIVE SMOKING | (Max 25) | ||||
| NEED FOR MANUAL HANDLING | (Max 25) | ||||
| RISK FROM COSHH | (Max 25) | ||||
|
STRESS |
(Max 25) | ||||
|
PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT NEEDED |
(Max 25) |
|
|||
| EXCESSIVE TRAVELLING | (Max 25) | ||||
| WORKING AT HEIGHT | (Max 25) |
OTHER CONSIDERATIONS:
AGREED AND SIGNED BY:
HR/HOSTING MANAGER:
WORK EXPERIENCE STUDENT:
DATE:
TOTAL RISK SCORE FOR JOB: RISK LEVEL:
Appendix C – restrictions on hours and Rest breaks
- Definitions of young people and children by age:
- A young person is defined as anyone under 18 and
- A child is anyone who has not yet reached the official minimum school leaving age (MSLA). Pupils will reach the MSLA in the school year in which they turn 16. The youngest age a child can work part-time is 13.
| • Restrictions | • Young person
• (16-18 years of age) |
• A child
• (13-16 years of age) |
| • Rest Breaks | Where a young person’s daily working time is more than four and a half hours, he/she is entitled to a rest break of at least 30 minutes, which shall be consecutive if possible, and he/she is entitled to spend it away from his workstation if he/she has one. | • Children are not allowed to work for more than 4 hours without taking a break of at least 1 hour |
| • Working Hours | 16 and 17 year olds can’t normally work more than 8 hours a day or 40 hours a week. The hours can’t be averaged out for 16 and 17 year olds. There is also no opt-out which means that they can’t work longer hours even if they want to. | Children are not allowed to work:
during school hours · before 7am or after 7pm · or more than one hour before school (unless local bylaws allow it) · in any work that may be harmful to their health, well-being or education • |
| Employment status and the national minimum wage
• |
Work experience students are often of compulsory school age and would not be entitled to the national minimum wage or have employment rights as a worker. | |
| • Other restrictions | • | During term time children can only work a maximum of 12 hours a week. This includes:
· a maximum of 2 hours on school days and Sundays · a maximum of 5 hours on Saturdays for 13 to 14-year-olds, or 8 hours for 15 to 16-year-olds
During school holidays 13 to 14-year-olds are only allowed to work a maximum of 25 hours a week. This includes: · a maximum of 5 hours on weekdays and Saturdays · a maximum of 2 hours on Sunday
During school holidays 15 to 16-year-olds can only work a maximum of 35 hours a week. This includes: · a maximum of 8 hours on weekdays and Saturdays · a maximum of 2 hours on Sunday |
Appendix D – Suggested tasks for work experience students
| These are examples of the tasks that would be appropriate for work experience students to participate in: | |
| Nursing:
– Talk to nurses and find out what the job involves – Talk to patients – Observe immunisation of adult patients – Observe home visits with patient’s consent
|
– Obtain results from the computer under strict supervision
– Observe handover – attend the team meeting – understands how best to write up clinical notes, importance of accurate and thorough documentation |
|
GP work: – Talk to the doctor and find out what the job entails – Observe appointments with patient’s consent – Observe home visits with patient’s consent – Listen to telephone triaging (second headset alongside triaging clinician) – Understands how best to write up clinical notes – importance of accurate and thorough documentation
|
|
|
Governance Team: – Learn what Governance means |
|
|
Facilities: – Observe medication / stock order taking place and visiting sites |
|
|
Administrator: – Talk to administrator and find out what the job involves – Answer the phone – Assist with filing – Input data on computer with the administrator’s supervision – Analyse data – Perform general administration tasks. |
|
|
Host: – Talk to Host and find out what the job involves – Answer the phone – Assist with filing – Input data on computer with the Host’s supervision |
|
|
Healthcare Assistant: – Talk to Healthcare Assistant and find out what the job involves – Observe simple dressings, with the patient’s consent. |
|
|
Driver: – Talk to Driver and find out what job involves – Observe/Attend home visits (subject to the nature of the condition) |
|
|
Overview It is the responsibility of the supervisor for the clinical care of each patient to determine the extent of a young person’s participation, taking into account the findings of the risk assessment and the relevant clinical protocols. You must also ensure that the consent of the patient is sought before the young person is allowed to be present and/or participate. Where consent is not given or available, the young person must be excluded from the activity/area but not be left alone. |
|
Appendix E – Student, parent and teacher agreement to BrisDoc requirements
- BrisDoc places considerable importance on the need for attention to health and safety at work. You have the responsibility to acquaint yourself with the safety rules of the workplace, to follow these rules and make use of facilities and equipment provided for your / the students’ safety. It is essential that all accidents, however minor, are reported.
- BrisDoc will also expect you/the student to observe other rules and regulations governing the workplace which are drawn to your attention. Please note that there is a no smoking policy covering the whole working environment and that there are security arrangements applicable to most locations.
- BrisDoc fully supports equal opportunities in employment and opposes all forms of unlawful or unfair discrimination in relation to any protected characteristics including, ethnic origins, gender, disability, age, religion or sexuality.
- There will not normally be payment for meals or travelling expenses.
I have read and understood the above requirements.
Signature (student)
Print name: Date:
Please obtain the following signatures if under 18yrs.
Parent/guardian
I have read and understood the above requirements. I will ensure the student carries out these obligations and confirm that he/she is not suffering from any complaint, which might create a hazard to him/herself or to those working with him/her.
I give permission for my son/daughter (write name of child) ___________
to attend the placement and observe during his/her visit to BrisDoc Healthcare Services
Signature:
Print name: Date:
Parent Contact details: ___________________________________________________
Teacher/careers adviser if under 18 yrs
I have read the work experience programme information and give permission for
[Insert name of student] to attend the placement and observe during his/her visit to BrisDoc Healthcare Services I also confirm that he/she is currently studying at
[Insert name of school or college]
Signature:
Print name: Date:
Please return to: People Team , Unit 21 Osprey Court, Hawkfield Business Park, Whitchurch, Bristol, BS14 0BB, Telephone 01179370900.
Appendix F – Daily diary
| Name | |||||
| Department: | |||||
| Day [Insert date] |
Hours | Who I shadowed/ observed |
What I learned | ||
| 1. | |||||
| 2. | |||||
| 3. | |||||
| 4. | |||||
| 5. | |||||
Please return a copy of this form to your Hosting Manager,
who will return it to the People Team
1. Tables
| Date | Reviewed and amended by | Revision details | Issue number |
| 21/07/2014 | Ewa Daneils | Signed off 03/10/2014 | 1 |
| 25/06/2018 | Samantha Hill | 2 | |
| 06/12/2022 | Mike Duncan Nigel Gazzard | References to People Team replaced HR Department. | 2.1 |