Have you got a degree? Do you want to progress into management within the NHS? Did you know that you can apply for the NHS Graduate Management Training Scheme?
From this week you can apply to join the 2024 cohort of NHS graduates in a variety of roles. The scheme gives applicants the opportunity to develop into future NHS leaders and really make a difference. You can choose between a variety of specialisms including general management, human resources, finance, policy and strategy, and data informatics.
As proof that the sky is really the limit, Amanda Pritchard, Chief Executive of NHS England, joined the NHS in 1997 through the graduate scheme and worked her way through a variety of management roles before becoming Chief Executive at Guys and St Thomas NHS Trust before moving to her current position in 2021.
Tahmid Islam was Trainee Service Manager within the acute therapies department at Eastbourne DGH during the 2022/23 cohort. We asked him his views on the management training scheme.
“My time in the NHS graduate management training scheme has been focused on learning and developing my skills so that I can become a fully-fledged service manager after I graduate from the scheme. It is incredibly intense and every day is a huge learning curve to understand the complex systems that exist within the NHS. The scheme gives me and my peers a fast-track to senior levels of healthcare management by combining on the job learning with educational components, such as being on the NHS Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Programme, a 24-month master’s degree in healthcare management.
“My ambition for when I finish the graduate scheme is to work on national projects that deal with the significant issue of health inequalities and, hopefully, after gaining enough experience I can successfully become a CEO of an NHS trust in future.”
Nadia Cruddis has graduated from the scheme and is now Divisional Director of Operations for Diagnostic, Anaesthetics and Surgery Services. She says:
“The scheme gave me an opportunity to work across different organisations within the NHS as well as take part in an external placement outside the NHS over a two-year period. The scheme has competencies that focused my placements and learning modules to develop me as an NHS leader. I really enjoyed the scheme as I was continuously learning and met a wide variety of people.”
For more information on the Graduate Management Training Scheme and to apply visit the Graduate Management Training Scheme website.