NSA to deliver first health informatics apprenticeship

Healthcare

In a bid to encourage more young people to take up careers in healthcare finance and IT, a new training scheme in north-west England has been launched.

The National Skills Academy for Health (NSA) Apprenticeship Training Agency has teamed up with Skills for Health Academy North West, City of Liverpool College and local NHS trusts to deliver the first health informatics cadet apprenticeship course.

Candidates have a six week induction followed by a placement, working towards a level 2 apprenticeship qualifications in health informatics (HI). It is a yearlong course; apprentices spend three days a week in the workplace and two in classes delivered by City of Liverpool College.

Judith Jones, cadet development lead at Skills for Health Academy North West, said: “We were being told that employers need ‘new blood’ in these fields, and that in many cases this was not coming through, because young people did not have the right skills or training.”