A huge thank you to outstanding placement providers

And their messages of gratitude have been collected into a booklet, Celebrating Excellence in Practice Education 2022.

The students need to complete many weeks on placement to qualify as healthcare professionals, so their placement providers’ determination not to let them down is both admirable and essential to their futures.

Prior to the pandemic, Oxford Brookes ran an annual Placement of the Year Awards ceremony to recognise outstanding placement providers. But this year, the University has decided to thank them all after being inundated with a vast number of nominations from grateful students.

Astrid Schloerscheidt, Pro Vice-Chancellor, Dean of Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, said: “To the teams at all our placement providers, we would like to say a huge ‘thank you’ for your dedication to providing outstanding learning experiences for our students. The work of these experienced practitioners enables students to integrate theory and current evidence into professional practice. This directly benefits patients and clients.”

Students from subjects including Nursing, Social Work, Midwifery, Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy and Paramedic Science worked on placements with a wide range of providers in Oxfordshire, Wiltshire and locations across the South and Midlands.

During the pandemic, 1,169 Oxford Brookes students have actively supported the work of the NHS. And in the last two years, 150 public and private sector organisations have provided over  6,700 placements for students.

As well as supporting vital work during the pandemic, students have gained invaluable experience for their future careers – which for many will include caring for ill and vulnerable people.  

A student on placement in the Wenrisc Ward, Witney Community Hospital, said, “Working in the middle of the pandemic on a red Covid ward with many staff isolating or off sick, and still staff managed to go above and beyond for the students. The staff couldn’t have done more for us – they were truly amazing. Providing palliative care to patients who unfortunately lost their lives to Covid-19 are experiences I will take with me forever.”

And a student on placement in Paediatric Orthopaedics, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, said, “The incredible, forward-thinking staff not only encouraged me to be the best student Occupational Therapist I could be but encouraged each other to strive for excellence.” Read all the students’ messages of thanks in Celebrating Excellence in Practice Education 2022 at www.brookes.ac.uk/poya