Health and Social Care - Foundation Year

The School of Health and Social Care has links with over 70 health and social care providers in London and the surrounding areas. Work experience will take place in one of these.

Placements will expose you to a range of client services and ensure that you embark on a professional career with a realistic understanding of the necessary values and skills required.

The Foundation Year offers students three periods of work experience:

• Work Experience 1 is undertaken in a non-clinical area and supervised by a non-health or social care professional. This is intended to offer the student a regular period of direct observation of how staff members work together to provide services for clients in health and/or social care. This might be catering, reception, hotel services, or portering, for example.


• Work Experience 2 is undertaken in a clinical area and remains under the supervision of a non-health or social care professional. This is intended to offer you a regular period of direct observation of how staff members work together to provide clinical/social services for clients in health and/or social care. Locations for this work experience might be voluntary social care services, social care or health care reception services, health centres, wards for example.


• Work Experience 3 (2 weeks) is intended to offer students significant exposure to a work environment of their chosen profession, helping to gain a realistic understanding of that career and to complete the final portfolio. This may involve working in a clinical or social care area with a professional for the entire period. Alternatively, you may be immersed in the work of an area or department with a focus on how that service affects the client’s journey through health or social care services. Whichever schedule of experience is provided, you will have an excellent insight into how their chosen profession carry out their role with clients and colleagues.

Disclosure Barring Service (DBS)

All pre-registration students need to be DBS cleared before going on placement. You’ll need to have an enhanced DBS check even if you have had one before and will not be able to go on placement until this is complete.

The DBS process is not difficult but can take some time so it's best to get started as soon as you receive your email.

DBS update service

If you're part of the DBS update service, your subscription is up to date and you already have a DBS certificate, please email a copy to hscdbsoh@lsbu.ac.uk and then bring in your hard copy for the document check. To take advantage of the update service, your certificate needs to be classified as 'Enhanced' and workforce must be listed as 'Adult and Child'. If you have any queries, please email us at hscdbsoh@lsbu.ac.uk.

How to complete your DBS

Our DBS supplier, Verifile, will send you an email with all the details you need to complete your DBS.

Verifile will give you instructions to log into their system and complete your personal details and information. To complete the process, you'll need your passport or driving licence and 5-year address history including dates when you moved in/out.

You can use your application number to track the progress of your DBS.

When you've finished, your Disclosure Statement will be mailed to the most recent address in your submission, so please make sure it's correct. We don't automatically receive a copy of this Statement, which is why we need you to bring it in as part of the next step.

Frequently asked questions

Document check

Once you have completed the online part of the DBS process, you'll need to bring your DSB Statement along with three accepted documents from this list to be verified at either our Southwark or Havering campus. Document checks can be completed for free at either campus, no appointment is necessary.

If you cannot get to either of our campuses, you can have your documents checked and certified at the Post Office for a small fee.

Occupational Health (OH)

An exciting part of many of our Health and Social Care courses is the opportunity to learn off-campus and work with patients, clients and/or service users. Before you start, we need to make sure that you have the correct levels of immunisations.

Questionnaire

The first part of your occupational health check is to complete the online questionnaire which our occupational health provider will review.

Complete your online questionnaire

GP appointment

The second part of your occupational health check is to get any inoculations that you may need from your GP. When attending your GP appointment, please take printed copies of these two documents with you.

Vaccination Screening Advisory Letter
GP Vaccination and Screening History

Occupational Health appointment

After these steps are complete you will receive an email from OHWorks Ltd inviting you to attend an appointment on-campus with an Occupational Health Nurse. These appointments take place during the week and sometimes when your classes have already started.

The OH team have prepared this guide which outlines what to expect at each stage. If you have queries or concerns about your Occupational Health clearance or inoculations please contact the Occupational Health team.

Frequently asked questions

Numeracy practice

Before starting your course, you may want to check or practice your numeracy skills. The National Numeracy Challenge is a free online tool that helps you learn, revise and quiz your essential numeracy skills. You’ll also be able to get a certificate to show your efforts.

Enrolment and Welcome Week

Before you start your course we’ll send you information on what you’ll need to do before you arrive and during your first few days on campus. You can read about the process on our new students pages.

Work experience

Most health and social care courses’ work experience opportunities will operate outside normal working hours e.g. evenings, nights, weekends and bank holidays.

Holidays

Your holiday periods may not follow the normal University timetable because of work experience. You’ll receive more details once you start your course.