Hospital workers make their opportunities multiply

Workers at West Suffolk Hospital are taking advantage of the opportunity to fill gaps in their maths knowledge thanks to an exciting project backed by UNISON, the Workers Educational Association and their employer.

Nearly a dozen hospital staff – both clinical and non-clinical – started Functional Maths classes this week. At the end of the 15-week course the learners will tackle either a Level 1 or Level 2 functional maths exam.

While the extra skills will help in their everyday lives, the qualification could also open some doors for the learners, giving them the eligibility to start apprenticeships and the ability to go on to further learning or seek promotion.

Local UNISON learning rep Laura Wilkes, who spearheaded the initiative, said: “I am very proud to have got this off the ground, it helps the trust to fill staffing gaps, but more importantly, it helps our staff to fulfill their potential.

“Learners have already commented how much their confidence has improved in just the first session, and that makes me very proud indeed.”

Laura hasn’t had it all plain sailing, with plenty of hard work getting staff released to undertake the courses as well as the logistics of such a major undertaking.

But thanks to support from the Trust, including the Co Medical Education Team, managers in Catering and Housekeeping and the library (which provided text books free of charge), the courses have got off the ground, even though the planning had to start before Christmas so that rotas could be changed in time.

“Given the winter pressures and the busy workload, the uptake for this course has been very good,” said Laura.

The new students came from across the workforce, from PAs to housekeepers, nurses and caterers.

Laura said: “The majority are low paid and female, so this is a real opportunity to help staff improve their job prospects and their personal circumstances.”

UNISON Eastern regional education lead Cheryl Godber was full of praise for Laura and Suffolk Area Health branch for getting the employer on board and working closely with local managers to ensure people had the time to run the course.

She said she was “absolutely thrilled” at the progress made so far.

“West Suffolk Hospital want to ‘grow their own’ staff in light of increasing national shortages of key NHS trained staff – working with UNISON and the WEA, I firmly belief this is one of the solutions to that issue at a local level,” she said.

After the early success of the maths sessions, Laura and co are hoping they’ll be able to start language classes at the hospital.

“I am really hoping we can roll out Functional English and ESOL at a later date in the trust,” she said.