Student finds work experience week with Healthwatch very engaging

Healthwatch were thrilled to host student Helena from Hereford Sixth Form College for work experience week. She shadowed the team out and about in the community engaging the public in health and social care topics.

Helena wrote:

Doing work experience for Healthwatch was amazing if I do say so myself. From just a week being with them I could see the different aspects they do to help our communities in Herefordshire. It’s been refreshing to see how kind and thoughtful this company is as they are ordinary people like us who just want to make a good impact to health & care services so they could improve.

In my week, I went to 3 different communities I met a range of people from learning disabilities to elders which gave me a good understanding of what Healthwatch does as they cover a whole variety of people and not just stick to one. Meanwhile meeting these people it was great to see how understanding Healthwatch is as they are also people who have problems with these services so they know what people are going through.

Samantha Jenkins, who I was with the whole week, helped me to see how compassionate and being just you in these scenarios was the key thing to do. This helps people recognise they aren’t just a formal business as you can joke and feel safe with what you’re telling them.

Even the days we didn’t go into communities it was still a good experience as I designed my own leaflet and listened into meetings to see how the business works behind closed doors.

It was a pleasure to host Helena and we wish her every success for the future.