Layla wins Health Science and Care Student of the Year Award

Meet Layla Austerberry, one of our fabulous Respiratory Physiology Assistants here at Sheffield Children’s, who has recently won the Health Science and Care Student of the Year Award at the Sheffield College!

Layla has been working hard to complete her Healthcare Science Associate Apprenticeship alongside her role at Sheffield Children’s and was excited by the news that she had won this award. She said: “I was a little bit surprised to be honest! A lot of the nominees were a lot younger than me, so it was really nice to be recognised for this award!”

As a Respiratory Physiology Assistant, Layla takes on a wide range of tasks. She often performs lung function tests with children over five years old, including spirometry, and even full lung function testing for children. These results are help our clinicians provide a diagnosis. Layla also does administrative tasks in the lab along with other members of her team.

Layla has been at Sheffield Children’s for three years and is looking forward to translating the skills that she has been developing into her role within the Trust. She said: “After completing this apprenticeship, I will become a respiratory physiology associate. Completing this qualification will mean that I am now be able to do the more complex testing that our trained physiologists do and help them out.”

Whilst working towards her apprenticeship, Layla devotes one day a week to studying for her course. She said: “It is a bit of a juggling act between working full-time, doing a college course and obviously your own home life, but it’s absolutely worth it. I have learnt a lot and have developed skills that will help me and the team going forwards.”

When asked which area of the course was her favourite, Layla replied: “That’s a really difficult choice, there are so many to choose from. One of the units is learning all about the biology of the body and I’ve really enjoyed it!”

After her course finishes later this year, Layla aspires to complete further qualifications and continue to develop her skillset. She said: “Completing this apprenticeship will mean that I am able to progress in the Trust and will now be eligible to do a Level 6 Apprenticeship when the opportunity comes around!”

We love celebrating successes of our colleagues here at Sheffield Children’s! We’d like to give Layla a huge congratulations on her success and wish her good luck on her further learning adventures.