Date published: 20 October 2023
Primary Care worked collaboratively with other NHS providers in North Cumbria to attend a careers event in Workington for school children on 17 October 2023.
The event saw over 500 school children attend the West Lakes College in Workington and offered our local NHS a fantastic opportunity to highlight the huge range of careers available in North Cumbria (which covers West, East and North Cumbria).
Angela Gorse, Operations Lead from Cockermouth & Maryport Primary Care Network said: “It was an absolutely fabulous event and a great opportunity to talk to the kids about opportunities in primary care, nursing and beyond.
“There were loads of kids who attended from across a wide area and they were talking to us about all sorts of different careers, asking questions and taking away the information. So very hopeful for our future.”
The Inspira led ‘Beyond 16’ careers fair allowed primary and secondary care to work collaboratively and provide information to the children about the flexibility of opportunities across their local health services.
Karen Eilbeck, Treatment Room Nurse from Castlegate and Derwent Surgery said: “We discussed the many roles and categories of nursing and then we also do a little bit on interview techniques.
“We’ve come along collaboratively, so I currently work for primary care but we’ve also got representatives here from the Acute Trust (North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust) representing the hospitals.
“When I qualified I worked as a community nurse and now I work in a GP surgery so there is that opportunity to move around and even specialise in a certain aspect of nursing.”
Also in attendance for the NHS were Cerys Kendall, Healthcare Assistant at Maryport Health Services, Alice Birkett, Admin Assistant at Cockermouth & Maryport PCN, and Natalie Thomson who works in Widening Participation across both primary and secondary care.
Organisers of the fair were delighted with the turnout and gave thanks to all organisations that attended and supported this really informative evening for young people considering future career options.
