Veterans urged to take up careers in NHS
Hospitals are urging former Armed Forces personnel to take up careers in the NHS.
Lambeth based Guy’s and St Thomas’ and NHS England are looking to recruit serving and retired armed forces personnel, and their families, into 14 allied health professions.
Allied Health Professionals (AHPs) help to treat, rehabilitate and improve the lives of patients. NHS England hopes to increase the number of AHPs by around 70,000 by 2036/37.
Alex Oliver, 34, joined Guy’s and St Thomas’ as an operating department practitioner in 2019, after having served 12 years in the Royal Navy.
Mr Oliver joined the Navy at the age of 17 and served as an able seaman and moved into logistics.
He said: “I was reasonably academic at school and probably would have ended up going to university, but I got a bit of wanderlust.”
During his time in the Navy, Mr Oliver was deployed to 56 countries and territories across the globe.
But after getting married, he wanted a more settled life at home and decided to change career.
Mr Oliver said: “I’d always had an interest in science and we trained as level 3 first aiders in the Navy.
“First I did a year of nursing at King’s College Hospital, in Denmark Hill.
“But one day I went to the operating theatres at Guy’s Hospital for a patient follow through and I thought, ‘wow!’. This is a completely different atmosphere. It’s more dynamic and more suited to environments I’d been to in the past.”
He transferred courses and completed a three-year operating department practice degree, and eventually joined the main theatres at St Thomas’ Hospital.
When the Covid pandemic struck, Mr Oliver was able to put his military background to good use.
He said: “The pace changed and suddenly we were responding to an emergency. But in terms of organisation and putting new policies and procedures in place, that was stuff I’d done before.
“I got involved in trying to implement the cleaning routines without cross contamination, which was similar to the Navy and their chemical and biological warfare routines.”
“Without a doubt the communication is very similar in the operating theatre and a place like a warship and a military establishment.
“There are a list of aims that need to be achieved for the day, each person has a fundamental role, or they wouldn’t be there.
“And because of the pace you have to be direct, you have to have confidence in your team and in your own skills.
“For the patient, it’s one of the biggest, most important days of their lives potentially. For us we’re the health worker trying to bridge that gap and put the patient at the centre of it all. And also in recovery, after the surgery, when they are still anxious about the outcome and are asking lots of questions, which we might not be able to give the answers to.”
Each year at least 12,000 military personnel leave their roles in the armed forces for a variety of reasons, with many of them looking to switch careers after completing their service.
Fiona Sandford, a consultant physiotherapist and clinical lead of Armed Forces at Guy’s and St Thomas’, said: “As an Armed Forces spouse I know the resilience, adaptability and dedication of the Armed Forces community.
“These are just the transferable skills we are looking for in the NHS and I would encourage anyone from the Armed Forces community, Armed Forces leavers, veterans, partners and spouses, families, and people from all backgrounds with different levels of qualification, to consider joining us as allied health professionals. Your experience and knowledge will be invaluable.”
So far, more than 100 veterans have signed up to open days where experts from Guy’s and St Thomas’ hospitals provide an insight into the work of AHPs employed by the Trust.
The events, which will run until March 2025, have already showcased the careers of occupational therapists, dietitians and operating department practitioners.
To register to attend the sessions please email: armedforces@gstt.nhs.uk
Pictured top: Alex Oliver, operating department practitioner at Guys and St Thomas’ Hospital (Picture: Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust)