"If you’d told me 12 months ago, I would be standing here in scrubs, I wouldn’t have believed you."
21 Oct 2025
This year's Autistic interns are a few weeks into their work placements at Whittington Hospital. Read about how Eddy, who graduated last year, has now secured shift work in the Endoscopy department.
Full story
Selina Douglas, Rahma Maina, and this year's interns
Earlier this week, Chief Executive Officer Selina Douglas dropped in to meet our new Autistic interns who will be spending the academic year gaining valuable workplace skills and confidence through work placements facilitated by Ambitious about Autism, across Whittington Health NHS Trust.
She heard from interns like Berke, who is completing a work placement in our hospital’s Pharmacy, providing valuable administrative support and working with the department’s robot (affectionately known to the team as WALL-E the robot).
Over the years, Autistic interns have worked in many different departments across Whittington Health including our hospital’s Education Centre, CAMHS, Dental Service, our hospital's Coyle ward, Research, Medical Physics, Paediatrics, Cloudesley ward, Endoscopy, Neurology and the hospital’s N19 restaurant.
They undertook a variety of duties including things like conducting patient observations and CBG monitoring, calling patients to remind them of their appointment, and delivering packages throughout the hospital.
Eddy's Story
Eddy was an intern who completed his placements at Whittington Hospital. Since graduating from the Ambitious College programme, he is now working shift work as a Healthcare Assistant (HCA) in our hospital’s Endoscopy department so if you see him around, do say hello!
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“I’m Eddy, I’m 23 and I graduated from Ambitious College’s Supported Internship programme.
“During the 12-month placement I worked in two hospital departments. In the pharmacy department I helped fill up and store medication, making sure that shelves were stocked and expired medication was disposed of correctly.
"In the endoscopy department I worked directly with patients after their procedures, removing cannulas, offering refreshments and doing observations. I also arranged escorts for patients following their discharge.
“Throughout my placement, I had lots of support from the Supported Internship team. When I started, I wouldn’t initiate any conversations but my teacher a job coach helped me grow in confidence so I can now speak to people I’m not familiar with. They always came to visit me on placements to check-in and see how I was doing.
"At the end of each working day, we would have a 30-minute review to discuss how what had happened that day and whether there were any challenges to overcome. It made me feel very secure that they were always there caring for us.
“Before my internship, I did odd jobs of babysitting or helping my neighbours, but I never thought I could get a job working in a hospital, which is what I have always wanted to do. I’ve grown a lot and I am much more confident in the workplace. Before I started the placement I couldn’t even travel by myself and now I am confident doing so.
"If you’d told me 12 months ago, I would be standing here in scrubs, I wouldn’t have believed you.
“The Supported Internship programme has been a great stepping stone into work. I’ve had a lot of ups and downs in my life and I needed some stability and a programme that was tailored to me so I could reach my full potential. It’s helped me to achieve things I never thought I’d be able to achieve.”
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