Seven students will be the first to graduate as fully qualified operating department practitioners from a new course right here in Cornwall. 

The adult students are the first intake to complete the professional health qualification from the University Centre Truro and Penwith.

The qualification is Cornwall’s first nursing and healthcare degree-level programme delivered at the centre.

Many are already working on the in Cornwall's NHS.

Elly Oakley, 44, from Camborne, was one of the students.

(Image: Truro & Penwith College)

Over five years, she has changed her career from hospital porter to becoming a qualified ODP.

Elly began her journey with a Level 3 Senior Healthcare Support Worker Apprenticeship in 2019 at Truro and Penwith College, which allowed her to get on the first rung of the healthcare career ladder.

She said: "It was great to know I could achieve something I never thought possible."

She heard about the ODP role during her apprenticeship with the Royal Cornwall Hospital Trust.

After her Level 3 apprenticeship, she progressed onto the BSc (Hons) Operating Department Practitioner degree apprenticeship, working as a theatre assistant.

She spent the last three years completing her degree alongside her role.

(Image: Truro & Penwith College)

She said: "In the third year we got to experience different placements such as A&E and ITU, which we'd never been able to go out to before.

"It means we've been able to follow the patients’ journeys further than just the pre-operative environment."

Poppy Budden, 24, from Truro, also graduated from the same course, and now assists an anaesthetist within the Trust.

She said: “The lecturing staff have been so helpful; even when I had things going on at home and in the rest of my life, they were so supportive, so understanding.

"They took the time to listen to us, hear everything we had to say – I really couldn’t have got through it without them.”

Lecturer John Reynolds said: These students exemplify the commitment and passion required to excel in such a demanding yet rewarding profession.”

The University Centre Truro and Penwith aims to support its students and alumni with continued professional development opportunities and fostering a strong community of healthcare professionals.