What is the Health and Care sector?
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Wigan and Leigh College Students
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Wigan and Leigh College Students
Health and Social Care offers a diverse range of careers and progression opportunities. Our local schools and colleges have designed programmes to support you into employment or to provide you with the skills and confidence to progress onto university level study.
The demand for health and social care staff is always high with increasing demand for young people to join the sector - and become the future managers and leaders. And with an aging population and people living longer with multiple health conditions, a future career in this area is a safe bet for long term, rewarding work with lots of progression opportunity.
To meet demand, Health and Care needs 1 in 10 schools leavers to join what is the largest careers sector in the borough. We’re looking for a new generation of qualified people to meet skills needs in all areas from nursing to mental health, counsellors to care support teams, GPs to occupational and sensory therapy and more.
With starting salaries for care support staff of £23,000 and rising to over £100,000 for senior health and care positions, and with multiple starting points from absolutely no experience to university graduates there is something for you.
In addition to direct health and care, there are many roles in technical, IT, accountancy and business management, office based, providing all the vital background support. There truly is something for everyone.
In the borough, careers currently in demand include:
- Nurses
- Speech and Language Therapists
- Occupational Therapists
- Social Workers
- Care Support Workers
- Activity Co-ordinators
- Registered Managers
- Counsellors
- Public Health Managers.
Some of the benefits of working in this industry include:
- Excellent progression routes, from Apprentice to Director level
- Competitive pay, with the NHS, Wigan Council and private care companies
- The satisfaction of seeing your work help someone improve their health and live their best life
- One of the most varied sectors through the variety of roles, with opportunities to build skills and qualifications to take you across the country and overseas.
What skills and qualifications do I need for jobs in Health and Social Care?
Find out about routes into Health and Social Care.
Health and Social Care career profiles
Hear from people working in Health and Social Care across Wigan Borough, how they started their career and what they love about it.
- Career profile - Adam, physiotherapist
- Career profile - Amelia, community link worker
- Career profile - Ashley, team leader supporter living
- Career profile - Cheryl, podiatrist
- Career profile - Cleo, social worker
- Career profile - Daniel, establishment manager
- Career profile - Derek, GP
- Career profile - Hayley, speech and language therapist
- Career profile - Kirsty, social care officer
- Career profile - Lindsey, social worker advanced practitioner
- Career profile - Ruth, CEO supporter living organisation.