FMTS blog / Angel Uzunov: "I have been given responsibility from day one"

South Central Graduate Trainee

Intake: September 2014
Location: ​Southampton 

My first placement was at University hospital Southampton in the management accounting department, and it lasted 8 months. The department was very busy throughout the month and especially during month end. I was given a lot of responsibilities from the onset and gradually assumed more.

I am grateful that I was trusted from the beginning. There was always space to volunteer and take on more work so long as you felt comfortable. If you felt overwhelmed, people were always willing to help. I have to admit that it was a tough first placement to start with but it was probably the best way to get introduced to NHS Finance at such a large organisation which is a regional specialist centre.

I’m currently on my second placement at NHS England Wessex, in the Corporate team which looks after HQ costs and CCG Assurance. It has been really interesting to go from the provider side to the commissioner side and see the different perspectives.

Again, I have been given responsibility from day one and been trusted with some important work. I am also now concentrating more on achieving my competencies at a faster rate, whilst advancing my Excel skills to a higher level by running and updating financial reports and designing user forms.

Throughout both placements I have been trusted with my own development. However, if I ever got stuck and needed help for anything, people have always been willing to help; whether that is helping me to figure out what I need to do to achieve some competencies, technical development with using systems and Excel or any other query.

It is of course challenging to work, develop professionally and study at the same time, but you feel the rewards one achievement/passed exam at a time. This scheme enables you to have a good work-life-study balance with generous exam and study leave that you wouldn’t get in many other places. Once you progress with your studies, you can see how what you study applies in the real world and start making connections which give even more purpose to what you do.