The apprentices who will help people after major trauma

Lisa Ementon (right) has been helping Clive Harvey recover from his illness

An apprenticeship programme to improve patients' recovery from illness and injury is putting potential recruits through their paces.

Ten trainees who may end up at the National Rehabilitation Centre at Stanford Hall, near Loughborough, have been involved on a scheme developed with Birmingham City University.

The site will help those who have suffered major trauma.

It is scheduled to see its first patients in 2025.

Construction of the facility began last year

The first cohort on the apprentice programme began last September, and they are set to finish their training next year when the site, which will create the equivalent of 150 full-time jobs, is due to open.

Lisa Ementon spent three years as a healthcare assistant before joining the first batch of trainee rehab assistant practitioners.

Learning on the job with Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, the 51-year-old said she has learned "absolutely loads" about looking after vulnerable people, adding she is "really quite excited" for the rehabilitation centre to open.

"I think rehab has always been the thing that sort of is forgotten about," she said.

"To get everybody into one area for that sole purpose is an absolutely fantastic idea."

Lisa Ementon said she is enjoying learning more about helping patients recover from trauma

Clive Harvey, 72 and from Newthorpe in Nottinghamshire, has been in hospital for five-and-a-half months going through rehabilitation with Ms Ementon after developing Guillain-Barre syndrome, a disorder that can lead to abnormal sensations, muscle weakness or paralysis.

"The staff that I'm involved with, they're absolutely brilliant," he said.

"This is what the NHS needs - you need to encourage [people] to get into the National Health Service."