Health and social care placements

A healthcare professional course is one where you undertake education and training to prepare for your chosen career.

Your course has to meet standards set by professional bodies, as well as academic standards. The professional bodies are:

• The Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) for operating department practitioners and paramedics
• Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) for nursing and midwifery courses
• Social Work England for social workers
• the General Medical Council (GMC) for medical students.

Once you've successfully completed your course, you'll be eligible for membership and registration with the relevant Professional, Statutory and Regulatory Body (PSRB).

PSRBs also monitor the quality of professional courses and supervision 'in practice' (on placement). It's expected that all students are supervised by registered healthcare professionals who are positive role models, promote the values of the NHS Constitution, and deliver a high-quality service to the public.

NHS values

• Working together for patients
• Respect and dignity
• Commitment to quality of care
• Compassion
• Improving lives
• Everyone counts

You'll need to complete the following checks before you start your clinical placement.

Disclosure Barring Service (DBS)

All students are required to complete a DBS check.

If you apply to study a healthcare profession course at ARU, we'll invite you to attend an interview. After this, if we offer you a place on a course, one of our admissions team will send you the necessary DBS paperwork.

The University's Criminal Records Officer carries out the DBS checking process. This can take on average four to six weeks, and you can't go on placement until the check has been completed. This could result in your start date being put back, so it’s important you complete the paperwork in good time.

See our DBS page for more information.

Occupational health

The main purpose of occupational health assessment is to make sure that you're fit to meet the course requirements effectively and without risk to yourself or others. Course places are offered subject to satisfactory health screening. 

A member of our admissions team will send you the necessary paperwork to complete and you’ll be assessed individually.

If you don't have a completed occupational health check this could delay you starting the course. If you don't start the course for health reasons then you'll need occupational health clearance before returning to practice.

Mandatory training

It's a requirement that all healthcare professional course students complete a series of mandatory training elements every year. These include elements such as safeguarding, moving and handling, and basic life support. You must complete this training before you attend your first placement.

Who will support you in practice?

During your practice placement you'll be supported by a named registered professional, your personal tutor, alongside University placement staff.

You’ll be supported by a registered healthcare professionals who has met the professional body standards for learning and assessing in practice. They will support you during your training and sign off your learning outcomes as you achieve them.

You'll also be guided by a number of other health professionals, giving you the opportunity to gain an understanding of how professionals work as part of a wider team.

We're committed to supporting you during your practice experience. We've worked in partnership with our placement providers to invest in a number of strategies to ensure the quality of the learning experience.

Student responsibilities in practice

We expect you to:

• arrive in good time
• maintain and respect confidentiality at all times, particularly in relation to the use of social media sites
• act in a professional manner at all times
• turn off mobile phones in the practice area
• inform your clinical area if you’re unwell and not able to attend your placement, as well as the University
• raise any issues regarding your placement with your clinical supervisor and your personal tutor.

Dress code

You may need to wear a uniform on some placements. Whether wearing a uniform or not, all healthcare organisations have a mandatory dress code policy and students will be advised of this.

Placement areas include Cambridgeshire (including Peterborough), Essex and for some courses, London.

Please be aware of the following.

• Some placement areas and shift patterns may not be accessible by public transport.
• We aim to tell you about your placement area as far in advance as possible.
• The nature of healthcare provision does mean that circumstances can change at very short notice. On these occasions:
• you may only receive two weeks’ notice or less of a placement
• it may be necessary to change a placement at short notice
• a start date for placement may also be delayed.

Travel to your practice placement

We work with many clinical placement providers over a large geographical area, including Essex, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, as well as for some courses, London. This gives you exposure to all types of clinical learning experiences.

• Our placements are throughout the East of England, in both rural and urban areas.
• You may find that you have to travel a distance to your placement.
• You’ll be responsible for travel costs to and from your placement.
• It’s not possible to give every student a placement that involves limited travel.
• While we make every effort to minimise the travelling distance involved, it's important that you're prepared to travel and that you have considered the implications of this.
• When planning your travel, you should allow extra time for any personal/domestic issues that might make you late. It is a professional requirement that you are punctual and reliable.
• It's advantageous to have your own transport, or access to a car to help with travel to placements, as it’s not always possible to rely on public transport.

Shift patterns

During your placement, you'll experience different shift patterns, including weekends, bank holidays and night shifts (including early mornings). Personal/domestic issues should be planned well in advance to accommodate all shift patterns.

Holidays

You'll be allocated annual leave throughout your course and this is clearly labelled on the course timetable. Only in very exceptional circumstances can this be changed and only by prior agreement with your Course Leader.