My name is Carol Snape, I am the Senior Nurse Manager for Education at Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS FT.

I am a qualified adult nurse, specialist public health nurse / health visitor and a qualified teacher registered with the NMC.

My role in LSCFT is to support and develop staff and students on nursing and allied health professional programmes, from both pre-and post-registration programmes across our organisation and the ICS.

Last year on behalf of my Trust we won the “Best UK employer for nursing staff 2023”, with our career development pathway from College students and Health Care Support Workers through to qualified professionals and on to Senior Leadership roles.

We have also been awarded the Preceptorship Quality Mark, which recognises the quality and value of the preceptorship programme that we offer.

I have worked in the NHS since January 1986 and from the start of my career I have been invested in education and career development for all staff. I undertook the City & Guilds D32 & D33 to develop and support Health Care Assistants doing NVQ’s. This lead on to developing widening access programmes and latterly the TNA Trainee Nursing Associate and RNDA Registered Nurse Degree Apprenticeship programmes.

I was a practice teacher for health visiting, sexual health / family planning programmes and also a practice teacher assessor for others undertaking their practice teacher qualification.

I work for a Trust that predominantly provides services in mental health and learning disability, we are the largest provider of mental health services in Lancashire and South Cumbria and developing a career pathway in these services has been challenging.

But seeing our staff flourish, develop and be successful in their career progression from HCA to RNDA has so rewarding and beneficial to our organisation. I hope to share my experiences and knowledge with you to support you and your organisations in developing your workforce.