Declan

During summer 2022, HEIW took on 15 students for an eight-week internship. They each spent time in a specific department within HEIW to gain an insight into what it’s like to work for the NHS in Wales.

Here you can read about Declan’s internship experience at HEIW.

Name:                                Declan

Studying:                           Human Resource Management

University:                         University of South Wales

Internship with:               People team at HEIW

My overall experience

Shwmae, my name is Declan and I am a third Year Human Resource Management student at the University of South Wales.

I became interested in the opportunity to apply for this position as it coincides with my area of studies. I was also curious to learn and contribute to the public sector after only previously being employed with the private sector.

Networking and the opportunities to meet, not just the other interns, but my team as well have been a highlight of the internship for me. A lot of people I worked with are CIPD accredited so it's been very related to my career pathway. I’ve also enjoyed gaining knowledge and experience from everyone else and hearing their stories; to me this was the most important part, and it was really beneficial.

From an organisational standpoint, I never really had a sense of how encompassing the NHS is. I had that natural mindset of ‘the NHS is all just nurses and doctors’ and there's nothing else to it. This internship has shown me just how holistic it really is. I knew that the NHS cares, but it was nice to see that from an NHS organisation’s cultural perspective within HEIW.

Overall, the internship opened my eyes about how holistic and encompassing the NHS in Wales really is.

Declan’s Project

Project summary

For my internship, I was placed with the People Team at HEIW. During my 8 weeks, I focused on contract rationalisation, reviewing the organisational structure, and helping the team with general HR duties.

Objectives

My initial objective at HEIW was to map out a structure of the workforce using a variety of multiple data sources. This included categorising staff for a range of different positions and statuses. Once this had been identified, I then compared and outlined the major contractual differences between Cardiff University and HEIW policies. This included the entitlements and procedures, as well as the contractual obligations.

The result of the project involved a cleansing of the current data, both within the Electronic Staff Record (ESR) and workforce records. This would help to accurately depict the true numbers of the workforce at HEIW.

Acknowledgments and recommendations

My team have been instrumental in helping me achieve all the objectives that I set out. I'd like to thank all the individuals involved in my project.

I found the compassionate compass to be indicative of the organisational culture at HEIW. They’re compassionate, help others, and I really felt that was instrumental in my project.

Outside of work and university

In my recreational time, I enjoy being active in the outdoors, including swimming and going on walks with my sister’s two dogs (Leo and Hugo). I am also soon to be an uncle to twins, so it’s very likely that is what I will be doing for the foreseeable future.