18th September 2017
South Devon College is expanding its offer of courses in health and care professions to include a new base in Torquay. The Centre for Health and Care Professions, located at the former site of Devon Studio School now offers an excellent local venue next to Torbay Hospital.
Individuals wishing to pursue a career in health and care and allied professions have the opportunity to study at post 16 level and progress through to higher education and apprenticeships. South Devon College works closely with Torbay Hospital and partners with local healthcare providers to ensure all students have the opportunity to undertake work experience and gain skills in a real-life setting. Wellbeing and mental health is also a key and growing area of focus.
The College has a top quality curriculum offer in health, care and wellbeing taught by a team of qualified staff with years of professional experience. It has clinical pathways in higher education including nursing associate, assistant practitioner and routes leading to nursing and midwifery, as well as a range of health and social care courses from Level 2 upwards.
The facility will provide individuals with excellent career prospects, with increasing opportunities to study apprenticeships in specialist areas such as audiology and healthcare support and health science.
Students succeed at the highest levels, and recently, South Devon College celebrated the success of Level 3 Health and Social Care students Chelsey Small and Emily Bonner who both scored in the top eight of all competitors in the national WorldSkills UK regional heats; the world’s largest vocational skills competition that aims to find the best adult health and social care students and workers in the country. The girls have qualified for the final, which will take place at the NEC in Birmingham this November.
Principal, Stephen Criddle, said, “We are very excited to be able to expand our provision into Torquay to offer even more routes to success in this key sector. There are currently around 200 higher level students following higher and degree level Health and Care courses with South Devon College, and we want to see this double over future years to ensure that great local career paths are secured for our communities.”
Maria Woodger, Senior Section Head for Health and Care at South Devon College said, “We are thrilled to have a new centre in Torquay dedicated to training the next generation of Health and Care Professionals. The success and quality of our further and higher education provision together with our close partnership with Torbay Hospital and wider health and social care providers enables our students to gain valuable insights and opportunities in the wide range of roles available within this sector. We look forward to training the workforce of the future to the exceptionally high standards we pride ourselves in delivering.”
Former student David Hickman said, “I graduated from the FdSc Healthcare Practice and was offered a position as an Assistant Practitioner at Torbay Hospital. I then enrolled on the BSc (Hons) Healthcare Practice Top-up, after which I became the Clinical Patient Safety Officer, working within the professional practice team at Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust. The skills I developed during my studies on the top-up Degree have been essential to finding employment in a Band 5 role. I gained knowledge across a range of areas, including leadership, management, mentorship and assessment within healthcare. The course structure, combined with the support and help of the teaching staff, has enabled me to succeed and progress within this field and has prepared me well for the future challenges I will face.”
Kevin Mowat, Chair of Devon Studio School said, “The launch of the Centre for Health and Care Professions marks a further opportunity within Torquay, supporting successful pupils continuing their learning and development progressing from the former Devon Studio School at KS4. I wish all former students continuing success and excellent future careers as they look forward to their wide range of options ahead.”
For more information about The Centre for Health and Care Professions or to enquire about our Health and Care courses, please email [email protected] or call 08000 380123
