when should you have started hospital work experience for medicine application

If you want a Saturday job, or bar work, this approach may work. In the middle of a busy day at a Hospital or GP surgery, this would just be an irritant that will put people's backs up. Receptionists cannot advise about opportunities and a Nurse or GP will be too busy (and if they wanted a WEx student, would have replied to the multitude of emails we get which can be dealt with at an appropriate time)

If a kid in Year 9 or 10 rocks up to the hospital and sees a doctor or nurse on lunch break, they ask the doctor or nurse that they are interested in a one day or week shadowing experience. I’d assume the Dr would tell the kid to send them an email and they can forward it on or to return on Friday, when the consultant is there.

Interrupting the nurses while they're on their break sounds like a good plan though. Let me know how it goes

Better to get them whilst they are going through the Off Duty (why do Drs have a rota where they are on duty, but Nurses have one called the Off Duty?)

Not funny.

** Do NOT do this either **

The problem is that your assumptions and your conditionals are all wrong and you've had four doctors tell you as much, so perhaps it's time to accept that you might be out of your depth?

If a 14 year old turned up to the staff room in my department asking for work experience my first thought would be to wonder how they got into a restricted staff only area. I also don't know the hospital work experience co-ordinator's details off by heart so I'd probably just end up directing them to the hospital website or switchboard. So they've gained absolutely nothing compared with going through the proper channels.

Hospitals are huge organisations - most people don't have a clue about admin that's not directly related to their daily practice.

Interrupting the nurses while they're on their break sounds like a good plan though. Let me know how it goes

I have responded to ecolier and accepted the point. No need to dwell on it.

I thought it was straight forward but it is clear that it actually isn't esp in hospitals. Prob care homes or GP surgeries may be easier to navigate.

Why are people afraid of Nurses?

No, GP surgeries are not easier to negotiate, just fewer people to get through before you annoy the GP so much you have no chance of work experience in their Practice. There is a process to go through and arriving with a big smile and expectations is not part of it.

People are not afraid of nurses - most of us would have been in serious trouble many times without them! They just have their own little rituals and you do not want to get in the way of those!