Aimhigher East Midlands - The Healthcare Strand in the East Midlands

Welcome to Aimhigher East Midlands

Aimhigher is a national initiative to raise levels of participation in higher education. Working in partnership with a range of organisations, Aimhigher provides a range of activities to raise aspirations, broaden horizons and encourage learners from schools, colleges and communities where traditionally progression to higher education is relatively low.

One of nine regions in a nationally funded initiative, Aimhigher East Midlands comprises the following five areas:

The Healthcare Strand in the East Midlands

Posted September 21, 2007 by Gail Millar

The Department of Health and Aimhigher jointly fund a distinct strand of activity within each of the nine Aimhigher regions to widen access to the healthcare professions. Within the East Midlands the Healthcare strand delivers healthcare focused activities relating to Higher Education.

The overall aims of the Healthcare Strand are to develop diversity in the region’s health and social care workforce:
1. To ensure student and staff profiles are more representative of the local communities; and
2. that the opportunity to enter higher education for allied health professions is open to anyone who has the potential, regardless of their background

Within the East Midlands the Healthcare Strand is specifically focusing on Allied Health Professions and Healthcare Scientists, which include:
• Speech & language Therapy
• Podiatry
• Dietetics
• Audiology
• Paramedics
• Occupational Therapy
• Radiology
• Physiotherapy
• Healthcare Scientists
• Clinical Psychology
• Operating Department Practitioners
• New healthcare roles

There are other Allied Health Profession roles, but the list above represents those professions for whom courses either run or are commissioned in East Midlands.

It has been identified that the student intake to these programmes reveals a poor reflection of the diversity of the population, particularly with under-representation from:
• Ethnic Minority Groups
• Males from lower socio-economic groups
• People with disabilities
• Current NHS staff employed in lower levels, but with the potential to progress

The Healthcare Strand in the East Midlands has four key objectives for 2006-08:
• Continuing to target under-represented groups through outreach activity to raise aspirations and motivation to enter higher education relevant to the healthcare professions
• To continue raising awareness of healthcare professions with under-represented groups through region-wide development of Information, Advice and Guidance
• Continued development and strengthening of partnerships with key stakeholders and strategic organisations
• Region-wide dissemination and promotion of the Healthcare strand

Last Updated: October 3, 2007