Apprentices benefitting from open conversations about mental health

For paramedics on the degree level apprenticeship programme, threading mental health considerations through their learning requires both academic and operational support to ensure a successful start to their careers with the ambulance service.

Cameron Pye is an apprentice paramedic with South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SECAmb). He is studying for a BSc (Hons) in Paramedic Science with the University of Cumbria. He will, on completion of his degree, be able to apply for registration with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) and practice under the protected title of paramedic. Prior to joining the degree level apprenticeship programme, Cameron was an associate ambulance practitioner with SECAmb for two years.

While it might seem odd that someone based in the south would attend university in the northeast, Cameron explains that the university provides distance learning and all the lecturers are local to SECAmb with an education facility based at Haywards Heath College.

Mental Health Symposium

I spoke to Cameron at the Emergency Services Mental Health Symposium held at Silverstone in November and we were joined by fellow SECAmb alumnus, James Armstrong who is now a lecturer at Nottingham Trent University. He used to be a full-time paramedic at SECAmb but now provides ‘bank’ (part time) hours in addition to his teaching role.

We talked about the value of events like the Symposium, which was co-organised by the College of Paramedics, to help emergency services staff manage their own mental health. Cameron is in the third year of his paramedic career and James is further down the line, but their routes are similar. What did they learn from this gathering?

Pressures on paramedics

Cameron says that he and his colleagues are going to an increasing amount of emergency calls where people are in mental health crisis. He reflected on the training he had while an associate ambulance practitioner and how the half a day allocated to mental health awareness wasn’t enough to prepare him to carry out his role and a lot of the learning associated with mental health was done on the job. Cameron is looking forward to increasing his knowledge through his university degree which provides an accredited mental health first aider course.

The media is full of stories about the huge pressures on the ambulance service and that has an impact on the mental health of paramedics, as Cameron goes on to explain.

“I’ve noticed that the mental health of some of my colleagues isn’t great. I think a lot of people don’t know where to get help and struggle with that. I think that signposting and in turn awareness could be improved.”

Academia supporting apprentices

James attended the Symposium to check that the support his university is offering apprentice paramedics is enough and what can be added to improve it. He shared his own experience where in the very early days of his career he struggled to cope after attending a fatal car crash involving a young man similar in age to him. “At the time, mental health was a bit of a taboo subject. We were just told to get on with it. The fact that we are now able to have these conversations at conferences like this shows how far we have come since then.”

As James is now teaching the paramedics of the future, he is in a good place to give space to that discussion about mental health, integrating it into the curriculum in an open way. Threading mental health throughout the curriculum rather than treating it as a standalone topic as experienced by Cameron seems to sensible way forward for apprenticeship programmes.

Increased focus on mental health

Cameron says it is early days for him as he is in the initial months of his apprenticeship, but he is hopeful as the course induction programme has already devoted a lot of time to mental health related topics and he says that the university is conscious of the need to support distance learners in a different way.

In the workplace, Cameron says that the SECAmb Wellbeing Hub is geared up to help paramedics with what they experience at incidents. “It’s great for work stresses. We have Trauma Risk Management (TRiM) practitioners who can signpost you to counselling services.” Two years ago, SECAmb introduced a wellbeing app called Backup Buddy. This is designed to support the mental health of both staff and volunteers.

The combination of the Wellbeing Hub and the support from the university works well, says Cameron. James describes something similar from his experience at SECAmb when he first went down a teaching route with local academic partner, Crawley College. He says it’s about creating safe spaces to have discussions about what paramedics’ experience and for apprentices to gather the tools and techniques that work for them.

Sharing learning

On a practical level, the apprenticeship programme allows for 1-2 days of teaching and study time allowing apprentices to practice what they have learned when they are out on the road. There are opportunities to discuss that learning in smaller tutor groups, offering a safe space to share and reflect with colleagues and mentors. In addition to this, each term, apprentices meet with their tutor and operational manager to look at the apprenticeship in the round. It’s a requirement of the apprenticeship and one that both Cameron and James agree works well.

Add to this formal arrangement the opportunity to attend free events like the Symposium, James says he’s optimistic about how well apprentices are being supported. He is enthusiastic about the Symposium and hopes it will run again in 2023. “It is a great opportunity to attend a free conference at an amazing venue with some really high-quality speakers promoting discussion about mental health that is incredibly open and honest.”

Cameron is equally positive and welcomed the chance to hear from experts and practitioners from across the emergency services. He hoped to see many more apprentices taking advantage of free events like this in the future.

It’s clear from talking to Cameron and James that there is a need for a continued discussion about how to manage the mental health of early-stage practitioners and give them the opportunity to learn from those further down the career path.