Sheffield Teaching Hospitals shortlisted in national awards for supporting underrepresented communities to access health careers
Sheffield Teaching Hospitals has been shortlisted for a national award in recognition of its role in making healthcare careers more accessible to people of all backgrounds.
The Clinical Support Worker Widening Participation Project, led by the Trust’s Nursing and Learning, Employment and Development teams, is a finalist in the Best Social Responsibility category at the Nursing Times Workforce Awards.
The Awards recognise outstanding efforts in nurse recruitment and retention, wellbeing and inclusion.
The Clinical Support Worker Widening Participation Project set out to transform the Trust’s recruitment processes by better serving the needs of Sheffield’s diverse population, including those from underrepresented communities, lower socioeconomic and deprived areas and minoritised backgrounds.
The teams provided prospective candidates with in-person and online information about clinical support worker roles and helped with the completion of application forms and ran interview preparation workshops. This boosted potential applicants’ confidence in being able to apply for roles. The part individual roles play in the overall delivery of patient care was also emphasised, which in turn has improved job satisfaction and retention.
The project also streamlined application processes which removed some of the barriers that local people from diverse backgrounds may have previously experienced in completing traditional NHS applications for apprenticeship and first-entry roles. It also freed up nursing and HR time to be able to offer more tailored support for candidates.
As a result of the project, 88 candidates were offered jobs, with 96% of candidates surveyed saying they would recommend the programme to another individual in their situation.
Sian Oliver-Waters, Employability Lead & Learning and Development Facilitator for Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Our flexible, values-based recruitment programme has given greater opportunity to local people from across a wide range of backgrounds to become a clinical support worker. We are now planning more recruitment campaigns for similar entry-level and apprenticeship roles.”
Professor Chris Morley, Chief Nurse for Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Our teams and partners who have spearheaded this new way of recruiting local people from a wide range of backgrounds deserve to be nominated for this award. As well as the successful applicants gaining a job which we hope leads to a long career in the NHS, our patients will benefit by being cared for by a group of staff who reflect our communities and have been well prepared for their role.”
Partners involved in the project were: The Growth Company: Restart Scheme & Refugee Employability Programme, Jobcentre Plus, South Yorkshire Primary Care and Workforce Training Hub: ReSTORE Programme, The Prince's Trust, Voluntary Action Sheffield (New Beginnings Project), South Yorkshire Housing Association, Sheffield City Council (Opportunity Sheffield Programme), Shaw Trust, NHS England, and The Sheffield College.
Winners of the Nursing Times Workforce Awards will be announced at an event in London on Thursday 28 November.
ENDS
Photo: Employability Lead & Learning and Development Facilitator Sian Oliver-Waters with Clinical Support Worker Karthik Rajendran and James Pickering-Craig Workforce Matron
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