Apprenticeship will train people to install life-saving healthcare equipment

A new apprenticeship to train healthcare engineering specialist technicians has been approved for use.

This is extremely timely as demand for their services has escalated due to COVID-19. Apprentices could for example be trained to install and maintain ventilators, which play a huge part in treating people with COVID-19.

Eileen Bayles, regional training and development manager at Northern & Yorkshire NHS Assessment Centre, said:

“The healthcare engineering technicians have been crucial in the fight against COVID-19, helping doctors and nurses ensure that equipment and buildings are safe and maintained in the correct way. It is the first apprenticeship that has been able to meet the complex needs of the environment and this is a great step forward.”

Fay Lane, talent for care relationship manager at Health Education England said:

“A healthcare engineering technician is a vital profession which contributes to the safe running and upkeep of our hospitals. Apprenticeships are a priority for Health Education England and it is fantastic that the profession now have their own apprenticeship that will enable them to continue to recruit new talented engineers into the NHS.”

The healthcare engineering specialist technician apprenticeship is a welcome new addition to apprenticeships for the healthcare sector. Over the last 12 months apprentices have played important roles in helping tackle COVID-19, including nurses working on the front line and laboratory technicians who helped develop vaccines.

Chief executive for the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (the Institute), Jennifer Coupland said:

“It is great to see that a high-quality apprenticeship has been approved for healthcare engineering specialist technicians. We have seen how vital they are throughout the pandemic and I hope people of all ages will have been inspired to take up an apprenticeship to train for skilled jobs in the NHS.”

Healthcare engineering specialist technicians work in hospitals, dental hospitals and practices, clinics, prisons, ambulance trusts, care centres, health centres, hospices, GP practices, and mental health hospitals and secure units.