Sir Keith Pearson and Prof Ian Cumming meet trainee nursing associates at Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust

On 11 January we were delighted to host a visit of Sir Keith Pearson and Prof Ian Cumming to Leeds to meet some of our new trainee Nursing Associates who are starting their pilot programme this month.

The Nursing Associate programme is an exciting initiative which aims to give healthcare support workers a clear and defined career path with the opportunity to develop their skills, knowledge and practice to support the Registered Nurse to deliver high quality person centred care.

Sir Keith and Ian met with local employers involved in the initiative, including Leeds Teaching Hospitals, Bradford Teaching Hospitals, Leeds and York Partnership,  Leeds Community Healthcare and Airedale NHS Foundation Trust to explore the journey to becoming a pilot sites and the vision for the future of the role.

The highlight of the day was meeting some of the Trainee Nursing Associates who were keen to share their stories and how the role will open up new doors for them whilst also impacting on patient care. Some of the trainees had already started the programme whilst others were yet to start later this month. They spoke with enthusiasm and passion about how they wanted to be able to do more and make a greater impact, sharing their hopes for the future. The trainees were inspirational and meeting them gave a real insight into the impact of the work that we do at HEE on an individual level.