Students, Learners and Trainees
Last updated: September 2025
Links will open in the same tab. Return to this page by using the back button in your browser. To open links in a new tab, hold ctrl while you click.
Contact the Practice Education Facilitators (PEFs)
The PEFs are located in the Business Support Office, 2nd Floor, New Alderley House (turn left at the top of the stairs). Please note the door is swipe access so you may need to call or email the team first. Contact by phone 01625 66 3028 or email at ecn-tr.vldt@nhs.net.
Wellbeing support
Click the link below to open a Sway article with more information about wellbeing support for learners while on placement at East Cheshire NHS Trust.
Student and educator support
Weekly placement visits
Practice Education Facilitators visit placement areas face to face to support students and educators.
Monthly student discussion group
An opportunity to meet students from other professions, year groups and training courses and discuss your learning away from your placement. Practice Education Facilitators (PEFs) are on hand to help with any questions/queries raised. The meeting contributes to placement time.
Please see the calendar at the bottom of this page for more information and upcoming dates.
Safe Learning Environment Charter
The Safe Learning Environment Charter (SLEC) was developed in response to healthcare learner feedback on clinical experiences in maternity services (Kirkup 2015, 2022 and Ockenden 2020, 2022 reports). The key themes arising from these reports were: the need for safer staffing, a well-trained workforce, teamwork, transparency, compassionate care, learning from incidents and listening to families. SLEC comprises of 10 priorities which must be implemented by all education and placement providers and applied to learners of all professions and those responsible for supporting placement learning. SLEC sets out the supportive learning environment required to allow learners to become well-rounded professionals with the right skills and knowledge to provide safe and compassionate care of the highest quality. Patient safety is at the heart of SLEC and the golden thread of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion is woven into all 10 priorities.
SLEC encourages a culture of continuous learning where everyone is actively involved in improving the learning experience.
Click here to find out more: NHS England » Safe Learning Environment Charter – what good looks like
Zero Suicide Alliance
The Zero Suicide Alliance (ZSA) is a UK based suicide awareness and prevention initiative hosted by Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust and funded via Mersey Cares NHS Charity.
Useful information about placements and apprenticeships
For community placements, students will need an NHS.net email and Windows domain account. Having a Windows domain account means they can access PCs associated with East Cheshire NHS Trust, including Macclesfield District General Hospital (MDGH), the library drop-in PCs and community placements. Community Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy placements also require EMIS access and training. Please request EMIS access here.
Students will need DCS access, please email the Vocational Learning and Development Team if you need any more information about both the EMIS and DCS access and training; ecn-tr.vldt@nhs.net.
Wellbeing support
Crisis support
If you are experiencing mental health conditions or are at point of crisis, please see the guidance below
In case of emergency
If you do not feel you can keep yourself safe right now and are at risk of harming yourself, seek immediate help. Go to any hospital Accident and Emergency (A&E) sometimes known as the Emergency Department. Call 999 and ask for an ambulance if you cannot get to A&E. Ask someone else to contact 999 for you or take you to A&E immediately.
Alternative support
If you need some support right now, but don’t want to go to A&E, here are some other options for you to try
- Contact your GP for an emergency appointment or, the out of hours team.
- You can now contact your local crisis service calling: 111 Option 2 for Mental Health, or Mental Health Direct on 0800 995 1000.
- Contact Papyrus – Hopeline: 0800 068 4141.
- Contact Samaritans on freephone 116 123, they are open 24 hours and are there to listen.
- Shout 85258 is a free, confidential, 24/7 text support service. By texting the word ‘SHOUT’ to 85258, you will start a conversation with a trained Shout Volunteer.
For local Mental Health Network support visit: Mental Health Support Network provided by Chasing the Stigma | Hub of hope. Find a list of national mental health services and helplines at mhfaengland.org.
NHS Student Hub
Click the link below to open the NHS Student Hub.
Online resources
There are a plethora of wellbeing resources for students to access, please find some links to a few here.
- NHS: Student nurse self-care handbook
- Students Minds
- Mind: Student life and mental health
- Nurse Lifeline – listening support
- BMA: Free counselling and peer support services
- Hub of Hope
- NHS Every Mind Matters: Mind Plan
- NHS: Talking therapies for anxiety and depression
- NHS: How to find local mental health services
Library resources
The Library is located in the LE&D Hub, 1st Floor, New Alderley House, and is open 24/7 via swipe access, with network computers and study spaces. It has a wide range of medical, nursing and AHP textbooks covering all clinical specialties, as well as online resources and study skills support. If you are unsure where to start, contact the library team at: ecn-tr.stafflibrary@nhs.net or 01625 66 1362.
Laptops are available to borrow for study – to borrow a laptop, contact the library team or drop in to the LE&D Hub during staffed hours (8:30am – 4:30pm Monday to Friday).
Library moss wall
Study space
Library PCs and shelves
Breakout area and coffee machine
Library computers
Evidence-based resources
A lot of library resources are accessed using an NHS Athens account. Athens accounts are free to set up and use, click the link below to set yours up today! Register for an account at the link below.
Anatomy.tv
View a 3D atlas of anatomical diseases and conditions. Sign in with your NHS Athens account.
Raising concerns
All Trust policies that students need to know about are available via the Trust internet site – find them here.
NHS England has information about raising and responding to concerns and the importance of speaking up about patient safety and responding effectively. You can find resources and related documents – find them here.
Your view is respected and will be acknowledged and acted on. You should be able to raise any questions or concerns with your placement educator and not fear reprisals or negative feedback. Find the supporting and escalating concerns information found on PARE dashboard here. Please discuss with either your educator, nominated person at your placement, manager, PEF team or university before raising concerns.
Please read the NMC Code of Conduct (2019), Professional Standards of Practice and Behaviour for Nurses and Midwives, or HCPC Standards of Conduct Performance and Ethics.
Freedom to Speak up Guardians (F2SU) for the Trust provide support and signpost staff and students who wish to speak up. Learn more about freedom to speak up guardians here.
PARE Placement evaluation
Please take time to complete your PARE placement evaluation. We strive for placements to provide a good learning environment and would like to be aware of your experiences to help us improve student experience for others. Please can you inform the PEF team about any issues during your placement so we can improve this for you. Learning about issues once you have left helps others but not your own placement experience. Positive feedback is also welcome as this is fed back to the placement staff too.