South West Universities Internship Programme

The aim of our programme is to provide students from underrepresented groups with a development opportunity to learn about our organisation through a paid internship.  It gives students an opportunity to learn and build new skills whilst raising the profile of our organisation with younger people. An internship can help to raise awareness of the types of career opportunities in strategic NHS Organisations with the aim of attracting a diverse talent pool and enticing people into a longer-term career whilst creating a sense of belonging in our organisation.

The Universities Internship Programme is about changing our recruitment practice to improve and broaden the diversity of the South West Region. The Equality Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) programmes were designed to support our commitment to ensuring that NHS England has an engaged workforce that reflects the diversity of the communities we serve, at all levels within the organisation. A diverse workforce will help us to better understand the needs of patients at a local level and therefore enable us to respond to the changing needs of our communities to eliminate health inequalities and improve patient outcomes for all. Diversity is important because it introduces differences in knowledge, expertise, and perspectives that help organisations reach higher quality and more creative and innovative outcomes. The Internship Programme is essential because it will ensure that our staff reflects a diverse community.

The only criteria are that the students are from an underrepresented group, are 16 years or older and are studying at university when applying for the internship. Students can opt for a short internship a minimum of two months from August 2025 or a one-year placement with the organisation. The longer-term placement can be part-time or full-time (37.5 hours a week) and will end in August 2026. All roles will be undertaken via a hybrid office and home working model. All Interns will be placed in one of our directorates, where they are supported by an identified lead known as a Placement Manager, and they will be offered peer support sessions and training sessions.

Students will opt to be placed in one of our directorates. The individuals will be managed and mentored throughout the duration by the placement manager, who will support them in getting the most out of the opportunity.

Placements will offer operational experience, working on delivering services, managing projects, stakeholder relationship management, and working in partnership with others. Placements will provide the experience for one or more of the following areas: project management, commercial awareness, financial management, change management or digital delivery. Our commitment is that we will appoint one individual per directorate as a minimum, and students are able to choose which of our directorates they would like to apply to.

Our directorates:

1. Communications provides strategic and effective communications to our internal and external audiences.
2. Corporate Services makes sure the organisation runs well, it develops and monitors the business plan and ensures it thinks about equality, diversity and inclusion when making decisions.
3. The Finance directorate oversees making sure South West region and ICBs use their money well. They will make sure the South West region and ICBs spend money so that Patients get the best health services.
4. Medical directorate leads doctors and other health staff across the South West region, helping different health services to improve, and checking that health services are giving people the right care.
5. Nursing support nurses to do their jobs well. Help nurses be safe when they are working. Provides expert professional leadership for nursing and midwifery staff, support improvement programmes with clinical input and lead on patient safety working jointly with the medical function.
6. Performance and delivery focus on making sure the South West region is prepared for an emergency. Write plans to help the South West region perform better in the work they deliver.
7. System Oversight and Coordination – The purpose of the System Oversight and Coordination directorate is to enable strategic transformation, supporting the development of local health and care systems, leading the regional implementation of agreed national priorities for service transformation, proactively shaping the provider and commissioner landscape, and prioritising and supporting improvements in service configuration where needed. Drawing on their detailed knowledge of local systems, they will also help shape future NHS policy and strategy. In addition, the team are responsible for coordinating and aligning all support interventions into local organisations and systems and building and maintaining effective working relationships with the ICSs in the South West at strategic and corporate levels.
8. Public Health makes sure that everyone gets good health care. The directorate helps the people in charge of the NHS to make good choices for the future. Make sure everyone can get NHS services. Work with other parts of the NHS to think of new ideas for the future. Make the NHS better for the environment.
9. Workforce Training and Education – oversees training staff, it makes sure the NHS in England has enough staff with the right skills to give people the best care when they need it.

The application process

In the first instance, individuals will need to apply with a CV and covering letter. The covering letter should include specific examples of how the individual meets the criteria required as stated in the Person Specification document as outlined in the Job Description. These roles are established at Agenda for Change (AFC) band 3 which currently offers an annual salary of £22816-£24071, pro rata for part time hours. We also offer a minimum of 27 days annual leave per year, pro rata for part-time staff which is in addition to all statutory bank holidays.

Timeline

If joining our organisation is of interest to you, please apply by sending your CV and a covering letter to england.swhrod@nhs.net. You can also use this email address to contact us if you have any further questions but please also check out our FAQ section below.

The timeline for the recruitment process is shown below:

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

• Colleges and Universities Internships FAQs