Welcome to the Southern Health NHS Foundation Careers Page!
What will be covered on this page?
- Who are Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust?
- Who are Unloc?
- Career Pathways at Southern Health NHS
- The skills required to work for the NHS
- Interactive Quiz
- How to get involved or find out more
So who are Southern Health NHS Trust?
We provide community health, specialist mental health and learning disability services for people across the south of England. Covering Hampshire, we are one of the largest providers of these types of service in the UK.
Such as:
- Nurses
- Doctors
- Consultants
- Psychiatrists
- Psychologists
- Physiotherapists
- Occupational Therapists
- Speech & Language Therapists
- Health Visitors
- School Nurses
- Support Workers
- Administrators
Community Health
Our community health services include a range of community hospitals (hospitals which have community beds, maternity, clinics, minor injuries units, X ray departments and more), Italk – Free psychological services for peoples suffering with Depression, Anxiety and other mental health issues. The Petersfield Minor Injuries Unit, MRI scan services, Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy and the Respiratory Service. Our Integrated Community Care (ICT) Teams also provide nursing, treatment and support in the home and local community to adults with a range of health problems or conditions.
Specialist Mental Health
Some of our specialist mental health services include:
Perinatal Mental Health Service – specialist assistance to women with antenatal or postnatal mental health problems.
Early Intervention in Psychosis (EIP) Service – a community service offering assessment, treatment and support for 14-65 year olds who are experiencing their first episode of psychosis.
Psychiatric Liaison Service –helping staff in general hospitals (including A&E) to detect and manage mental health conditions while people are being treated for a physical illness.
Eating Disorders Service –based in Southampton, Basingstoke and Portsmouth, we provide assessment and treatment for people with Anorexia, Bulimia, Binge Eating and some atypical eating disorders.
Rehabilitation Service –we work closely with people to help them recover from a mental illness and manage their condition long-term, either in the community or a residential home.
Hampshire Custody Liaison and Diversion Service (HLDS) – we work with vulnerable people with mental illness, learning disabilities or autism who find themselves in the criminal justice system.
Learning Disability Services
We specialise in helping people with Learning Disabilities. We help people with a variety of different health needs including:
- Physical Health
- Epilepsy
- Behaviours Which Challenge
- Mental Health Including Dementia
- Autism
One way we help & support those with learning disabilities is by producing ‘easy read’ information to ensure the whole community has access to important information that they are able to understand. Take a look at our easy read Coronavirus leaflet here:
Respect:
- Acting with honesty & integrity
- Respecting each other
- Taking responsibility
- Getting the best from our resources
- Doing what we say we will do
Partnership:
- Communicating clearly
- Supporting each other
- Working as a team
- Building relationships
- Making things happen
Patients & People First:
- Providing compassionate, safe care
- Listening to each other
- Doing the right thing
- Appreciating each other
- Delivering quality
Our core Values
Southern Health NHS Trust & Unloc Working Together
Unloc and Southern Health Foundation Trust have been working together for almost two years now. We came together with the aim to improve the mental health services available to young people, to listen to the voice, opinions and experiences of young people and to share information about the careers and opportunities available within the NHS.
We put out a questionnaire to young people all across Hampshire where we received 1,600 responses, we then developed a series of roadshows where we travelled around the area talking to young people about their mental health and wellbeing.
This careers roadshow aims to fulfil the third element, informing you about the careers and opportunities available within the NHS, as well as highlighting career pathways and important skills needed for working for the NHS.
So what job roles are available at Southern Health NHS?
Administrators
Support Workers
The NHS has to be well-organised and keep detailed records of patients and staff. Patients and other organisations need to be able to contact the NHS, to see or speak to the right person who can give them the help they need. That could be booking an appointment, getting advice or paying an invoice.
Health Care support workers can cover a wide range of areas from nursing support, Nursery support and mental health support!
Administrative roles include:
- Clerks
- Health Record Staff
- Receptionist
- Secretary/Typist
- Medical Secretary
- Telephonist/Switchboard operator
What qualifications do I need?
- GCSEs in English & Maths
- IT skills & qualifications are useful too!
- You'll be using your skills in time management, organisation & communication.
Physiotherapist
What is a Physiotherapist?
Physiotherapists help people affected by injury, illness or disability through movement and exercise, manual therapy, education and advice. They maintain health for people of all ages, helping patients to manage pain and prevent disease.
How to qualify as a Physiotherapist?
To get onto a Physiotherapy degree course you usually need two or three A levels, including a Biological Science and/or PE, along with five GCSEs (Grades A-C), including English language, Maths and at least one Science.
You may also be able to get onto a course with alternative qualifications, including:
- BTEC, HND or HNC which includes Biological Science
- A science-based access course
- Equivalent Scottish or Irish Qualifications
- A previous degree or a full practising qualification in a related area.
Two physiotherapists from SHFT talk about why they enjoy their jobs!
How do you become a nurse for the NHS?
If you would like to know more information on how to become a nurse then click the button below!
Click Here! Career Pathways at Southern Health NHS
Apprenticeships
Apprenticeships provide routes into a variety of careers in the NHS and are an excellent opportunity to earn, gain work experience and achieve nationally recognised qualifications at the same time.
What is available?
Apprenticeships are offered by individual NHS employers (such as trusts) as well as other non-NHS employers and organisations in many different areas of work. Below are some examples of apprenticeships that are relevant to the NHS.
- Business Administration & Human Resources
- Clinical Support
- Communications & Marketing
- Construction & Estate Services
- Dental Nursing
- Digital Marketing
- Electrical & Engineering
- Health & Social Care
- Healthcare science (various areas including medical physics, cardiac phsiology & clinical engineering)
- IT
- Library, information & archive services
- Management
- Nursing
- Pharmacy support
- Financial services
Watch the video to hear some people talking about their experience of apprenticeships within the NHS.
Further Study
What kind of college courses might be useful if I am considering a career in the NHS?
As you have already seen there are a wide range of jobs available within the Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust. It is best to look at the roles you may be interested in to understand what the requirements might be.
Further Education could be:
- An Apprenticeship
- A-Levels
- BTEC Course
- Paid Employment with training
This ‘compare roles’ tool is very useful for understanding the requirements for certain jobs:
Click here for the tool!Job Requirements
Let’s compare these two careers side by side.
By comparing these two roles you can see that there are different routes to a career with the NHS and that entry requirements vary according to the role
Work Experience
Work experience will show you how the NHS really works – especially useful if you’ve only seen it on the TV or when you’ve been ill! It can also help you experience being a part of a team and develop skills that will give you a head start when you apply for a job or university course.
Click here to read the experience of Cara who did her work experience as a radiographer based at the University Hospital Southampton:
Click here to read!How to find out more?
- Speak to your careers adviser/teacher at your school or college
- Visit the trust website: You’ll find details of NHS trusts in your area on the NHS Choices website. Ask to speak to someone in the Human Resources (HR), voluntary services or learning and development departments and explain that you are looking into a career in the NHS and would like to do some work experience. You may be referred to a specific person within the trust who organises work or voluntary placements.
Skills for the NHS
What kind of skills could be useful to have for a career in the NHS?
Spend a couple of minutes thinking about what kind of skills you think are needed for a career in the NHS…
3...2...1...
What kind of things did you think of?
Do I already have some of these skills?
This is just a snapshot of the skills that may be beneficial for a career in the NHS
Can you think of situations in your school/college/personal life where you may be already demonstrating some of these skills?
Skills Practice
Let’s look at one of those skills now. In any work situation you may be faced with particularly challenging times, and it can be difficult to remain positive when things feel particularly challenging. When you work for the NHS you will be caring for others and ensuring they are receiving the best possible care…it is important that you are able to try and remain positive!
Sometimes remaining positive can seem impossible. Let’s have a look at one way of trying to change this.
Your Turn!
Now let’s all have a turn at thinking more positively.
Try and think of a situation that feels negative, an experience you have had that at the time felt bad. Think back to that experience and try to find one positive thing that you didn’t think of before.
Write it down on a piece of paper or a post-it note and keep it somewhere you can see it. Whenever you find yourself facing adversity remind yourself how sometimes you have to try and remain positive!
How do I find out more?
Southern Health:
Please talk to your careers advisor or visit the Southern Health NHS Foundation website which can be found here:
Apprenticeships:
To find out more about the apprenticeship offering within the NHS can be found here.
Some of the apprenticeships on this website are offered with Southern Health NHS Trust.
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