When people think about working in the NHS, what comes to mind?
For most young people, it is doctors and nurses, perhaps paramedics too. They are the roles we see most often on television, in the news and when you come into hospital.
But they are only part of the picture.
A children’s healthcare provider like Alder Hey needs people with all sorts of skills and interests. There are teams working in laboratories, developing technology, looking after buildings and equipment, analysing data, running research, supporting staff, managing projects, and creating content for our websites and social media.
That means a young person who loves science might find a future as a biomedical scientist. Someone who enjoys computers could go into digital development or cyber security. A person who likes fixing things and understanding how they work might be interested in clinical engineering. And someone who enjoys writing, design or social media might be surprised to learn there are communications and marketing roles in the NHS too.
Many of these jobs happen behind the scenes, but they still have an impact on the care children and young people receive.
A clinical engineer, for example, helps make sure specialist medical equipment is safe and working properly. Biomedical scientists analyse samples that can help doctors understand what is happening inside a child’s body. Digital and cyber security teams help keep important hospital systems and patient information safe.
You may never see the people doing those jobs when you come to Alder Hey, but their work matters to every child and family who relies on the hospital.
One of the things I most want young people to know is that there is no single route into the NHS either.
University is the right route for some careers, but it is not the only one. People also join through apprenticeships, college courses, entry-level jobs, volunteering, and professional training. Some people start in one role and discover a completely different career as they gain experience.
That is important because not every young person has grown up knowing someone who works in healthcare or feeling that the NHS is somewhere they could belong.
That is where widening participation comes in.
At Alder Hey, we work with schools, colleges, universities, community organisations, and local partners to help young people find out what is available to them. Through careers events, work experience, school activities, and partnership projects, we can introduce them to jobs they may never have come across before.
Sometimes that first introduction can make a real difference.
A student who enjoys technology may meet somebody working in digital and suddenly see a potential future for themselves. Someone who likes science may discover a laboratory role of which they had never heard. Another young person may realise that the skills they use every day like creativity, problem-solving, organisation or communication, are skills the NHS needs too.
That moment matters, because it is difficult to aspire to a career you do not know exists.
The world of work is changing all the time, and healthcare is changing with it. We need clinical professionals, of course, but we also need researchers, engineers, educators, analysts, digital specialists, project managers and many other people bringing different ideas and experiences.
So, if you are thinking about your future, my advice is not to rule the NHS in or out, based only on the jobs you already know.
Be curious. Ask questions. Look at what you enjoy, what you are good at and what you would like to learn more about.
The career that suits you may be one you have not discovered yet. Sometimes, all it takes is seeing that job for the first time to realise: “I could do that.”
– Gill Foden