WALKways Tallaght University Hospital Programme.

WALKways Tallaght University Hospital Programme offers a one-year structured learning programme run in partnership between Tallaght University Hospital, Dublin and Dun Laoghaire Education and Training Board (DDLETB) and WALK, a community organisation involved in the education and training of young people with intellectual disabilities, across Leinster.

Catherine Kelly, Director of Services at WALK says: “People with intellectual disabilities face constant barriers in trying to gain employment in the open labour market.  This programme offers ten people every year the opportunity to experience work in the supportive, safe and yet dynamic environment of Tallaght University Hospital.  It has been amazing to watch the journey these young people have taken since the start of the programme.  We now see people who are hugely more confident, who have made truly incredible transformations to emerge as young adults ready to step in to the world of work and ready to take on all the responsibilities that comes with it.”

The overall aim of this program is for the trainees to gain employability skills and certification through experiences from working within the large hospital setting and across various roles.   DDLETB’s Adult Education Service (South West) provide a structured learning programme for certification, offering QQI modules to support the work experience. WALK will continue to support the trainees through creating a Business Support Network of business people who will mentor the trainees when they finish the programme.  It is hoped that the trainees can go on to find career type employment.

Young people with intellectual disabilities were selected following a special recruitment process to enter the one-year structured experience in a learning environment that supports both the theory and practice.  Their current skill set, prospective skill set and work-desires secured their placement in the hospital on a training work rotation. 

The trainees undertake three rotations across 15 hospital departments.  The trainees work full time from 9am-3pm Monday-Friday, developing their work skill set, learning new tasks and socialising with their colleagues. The trainees are supported on site by two WALK staff who are based in Tallaght University Hospital. Alongside the hospital work experience, the trainees also attend DDLETB certified classes in the afternoon, to complement the on-the-job training

The trainees have all successfully completed two of their rotations and are on to their final rotation.  We are delighted to be continuing on the programme and are looking forward to 2018’s intake already. 

ChiHung

ChiHung, 21, had explored many different roles and work experience opportunities as part of his supports through WALK’s Real Life Training Programme.  These roles included shop floor worker, administrative assistant for a solicitors’ firm, and being a gym assistant. ChiHung also completed multiple computer courses and this is a special area of interest for him that he hopes to learn more about.

ChiHung decided that he wanted to take part in the WALKways Tallaght University Hospital Programme because his future goal is to one day have a paid job. He recognised that taking part in the internship could give him worthy experiences and also give him an idea of different types of job roles and what they would be like to do as part of a career. ChiHung also had hopes of learning new things every day.

Since the beginning of the programme, ChiHung has been a team member of three different departments in the Hospital. On his last training rotation, ChiHung was based in the Speech and Language Therapy department, where he really enjoyed gaining experience in some administrative based tasks. ChiHung really felt like part of the team, especially when they would all go for their morning coffee break together.

ChiHung has overcome the challenge of the early morning starts from his first training rotation when he was working in the materials department.  Here he gained different experiences as he figured out different roles in this large warehouse including reading order sheets, understanding the numerical and alphabetical storage systems, picking and delivering orders to the wards, and inputting data on the computer systems. Since technology is something that ChiHung really enjoys, this work suited him.  As a show of appreciation and to highlight the impact on the team, ChiHung was given gifts from his team members last Christmas when his rotation was coming to an end.

ChiHung continues to learn many new skills on the WALKways Tallaght University Hospital Programme.  A hospital staff member who worked with ChiHung said that it is his levels of confidence and engagement with his team that have grown the most.

ChiHung is unsure of what exactly he would like to do after the programme finishes but says he is now more likely to consider looking for a paid job in technology than he was before he embarked on the programme.