Social work education and training
Mildmay has been at the vanguard of social work education for over five years.
Students from in and around London are placed at Mildmay to complete their social work placement.
Image credit: Metin Ozer
Mildmay makes a positive contribution to training the next generation of social workers.
Mildmay’s social work team, headed up by Lead Social Worker, Beverley Nelson, supports vulnerable patients within our hospital. It offers patients wrap-around care that is respectful, inclusive, and considerate of all care and support needs. Mildmay’s social work team works with patients, their carers, family, and advocates to promote collaborative working, anti-oppressive and anti-discriminative practices.
Mildmay offers students the opportunity to work in a multi-disciplinary team alongside consultants, psychiatrists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, doctors, nurses, and community nurse specialists. Students also can work with multi-disciplinary teams outside of the hospital to plan patients' discharge.
Due to the complexity of the needs of patients, cases often require multi-skilled and diverse professionals to meet their needs. Students have the opportunity to work with patients from the point of admission to the point of discharge and handing over to the community teams.
Mildmay is a unique hospital that offers its patients a place to heal and a place to reconnect with family, friends, and loved ones. We help patients to build a support network that promotes wellbeing and social inclusion once patients have been discharged. Mildmay’s social work team prides itself in building and maintaining a positive relationship with patients to ensure that patient care is personalised and meets their assessed needs.
A message from a Clinical Nurse Specialist in relation to a patient who recently left Mildmay:
"Dear Beverley and the whole team at Mildmay,
Good morning. A note to send you our warmest appreciation for all the care and support with J____. He has attended our community Clinic today and has settled well so far. He has also asked me to say thank you to you all for all the care and attention he received.
Wishing you all a good day
Kind regards
S____
Head of HIV Community Services
Wembley Centre for Health and Care"
Student placements
We have been supporting students for over ten years, enabling them to experience working in a specialist environment within a multidisciplinary team. All student referrals have to come via their educational institution.
Students at all levels are welcome to support their learning. We offer you the real-life experience of working with service users at a pace suited to your learning needs, ensuring support is available to help you in your learning journey.
The presence of a multi-disciplinary team means that students also have the opportunity to work with and learn from other professionals.
If you are seeking a social work placement in an exciting and challenging clinical environment, in the first instance, please contact Mildmay's Lead Social Worker, Beverley Nelson:
Student focus
"My name is Lawrence Bimenyimana, a third-year BA student at the London South Bank University.
I chose to study social work due to my experience with social work services growing up. I once lived in shared accommodation where social workers supported us in all aspects of life.
This intrigued me to study social work and give back to the community. The best thing about my placement at Mildmay Hospital is the warm welcome and acceptance of the team as well as the diverse learning opportunities available.
The most challenging experience is seeing patients leave after discharge and breaking that working relationship and rapport with them, never to see them again. However, that’s part of the work I- have to learn and accept it. I would like to continue experiencing the great working relationship with the multidisciplinary team at Mildmay Hospital and utilise the learning opportunities that arise to improve my knowledge."
"My name is Ian and I am currently studying for an MA in Social Work at the University of East London, on placement at Mildmay.
I was drawn to social work as I wanted to find a job where I could work with people to help them. Mildmay has offered me a great opportunity to start my journey. I want to work with vulnerable adults and the different pathways patients at the hospital are on mean I am working with people requiring support and guidance in a wide range of ways.
My most challenging experience so far has been working with a patient to help them move from street homelessness to a hostel. It made me appreciate the difficulties involved when coordinating this for people in complex situations.
Tackling the homeless crisis is a cause I am passionate about. Gaining greater experience working with those on the Homeless Pathway is something I am keen to do whilst at Mildmay. The team are incredibly friendly here and it’s been really interesting learning from the specialist knowledge each person has!"
Feedback from previous Social Work students
“Thank you for taking your time to support and teach me during my time at Mildmay”
“It has been an incredible experience working with you, you are so multi-skilled and resourceful and shown me so much support over the past few months and I am grateful”
“I just want to thank you for everything you have done for me this year. I started shy and nervous and now I’m leaving feeling confident and excited for the future”