Jason Swapped Steel Works for Study – Now He's Encouraging Others to Follow in His Footsteps
By Education Correspondent
When uncertainty began to mount over the future of Port Talbot’s Tata Steelworks, Jason Bailey saw it as just the push he needed to make a major career change.
The former operator opted to take redundancy and put the skills he had picked up during his time at the works to a different use – studying for a BSc in Healthcare Science (Medical Engineering) at Swansea University.
Medical engineering is a hands-on role which involves testing and maintaining the essential devices used in all types of patient treatment, from anaesthesia in operating theatres to life support in critical care units.
Jason, aged 42, said:
“What we do is the preventative maintenance and upkeep of all medical equipment. We are the hidden part of hospital life making sure everything is working smoothly and safely.”
Now in his first year, Jason said the course was certainly living up to his expectations.
“I had always had an interest in engineering - I stripped my first car engine with my dad when I was 10 - and I have an HNC in electrical engineering.
“The course has been everything I could have wanted with its combination of hands-on learning and placement experience. I have been able to display the transferable skills I had learned so far in my working life and I am given the chance to use my initiative.”
Head of the Healthcare Science Associate Professor Dr Barry Bardsley explained that the healthcare sciences programmes are commissioned Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW) to help meet the workforce needs in Wales.
He said: “Supporting applicants who move to an NHS training programme is a vital part of our strategy to facilitate meeting these needs. We welcome applicants who have science or engineering work experience, and there are both part-time and full-time options available.
“Jason is clearly using his years of experience in an engineering setting to develop his skillset to apply these principles to NHS medical equipment.”
Andrew Morris, Senior Lecturer and Programme Director for Medical Engineering,added that the team is keen to recruit applicants who have studied an engineering course and staff at Tata Steel fit the criteria.
He said: “We have seen Jason transition, with relative ease, applying engineering principles that he previously used in the steelworks to the healthcare setting. Dealing with medical equipment in a hospital is an important function of the entire organisation and the levels of safety and risk have parallels when comparing Tata to the NHS.”
Jason said: “Many steelworkers don’t realise how transferable their skills are. In the steelworks people must show a knowledge of health and safety and logical thinking. In a steelworks lives are at stake and that is absolutely the same in a hospital where patients’ lives could be at risk. Steelworkers understand that.”
Jason is not the first member of his family to change careers and embrace studying at Swansea.
His partner Stephanie Holloway is now also boosting the Welsh healthcare workforce as an anaesthetic nurse at Singleton Hospital after graduating with a degree in adult nursing six years ago.
The couple, who were both working at Tesco when Steph decided to become a nurse, have no regrets about becoming mature students and swapping the workplace for study.
Dad-of-three Jason added: “Life has changed so much for both of us. Once I finish my course, hopefully I will be working in the same hospital as Steph. I like the fact this role puts me in the middle ground – dealing with staff, explaining equipment and finding out what they need from the equipment. Innovation is key to the job and that’s why it is perfect for me.
“I would urge other steelworkers to realise that their skills really could help them make a mark in another field.”
All Tata Steelworkers are currently being offered free career advice through LHH with access to guidance and resources to help them transition to the next stage of their career.
Steelworkers can connect with Louise Moffat, Terry Cowburn or Zoe Hodgkinson, based in LHH’s Outplacement Centre in Port Talbot. Call 07384 116702 or email tsuk@lhh.com
Find out more about the Jason’s course and how to study either full or part-time
