The NHS is the largest employer in South West London, with many more employed in health and care roles in our council, voluntary and community sector and private health and care partner organisations in the area.
This means that as a system we are best placed to help strengthen the employment prospects and opportunities for our local communities.
We are prioritising work that addresses the most challenging areas for under represented and less advantaged communities across South West London.
In the news
Targeted engagement and informed reach to improve recruitment
A keen focus of this work is being culturally mindful when linking with the community and the varied accessibility requirements of our underrepresented groups, for example Black, Asian and minority ethnic men and women, people with carer responsibilities, young people (particularly those leaving the care system), deaf and disabled people. This insight will feed into the creation of professional content and a targeted social media plan which will utilise relevant channels and will consider high impact influencers to help our communities consider jobs in health and care.
Social mobility of our existing staff
This involves developing insight into the current workforce, including those from our most deprived wards, to understand the existing skill set, qualifications and aspirations of staff whilst sensitively managing expectations. We are aware that in many instances staff who have travelled from overseas are currently working in entry level roles and hold postgraduate qualifications in a range of sectors. This intelligence gathering will align NHS workforce challenges and strategy to available opportunities and/or interventions such as CPD, specific functional skills development, promotion or a new role in a different area. This work will also inform the development of a talent pool.
Social mobility for our local communities
Our project based work experience programme has been designed to lower barriers to entry and support local people to progress and settle into roles and careers within healthcare organisations. We are working with education providers and NHS employers to provide potential staff work experience in areas of need. The programme also supports participating NHS managers to develop coaching skills and progress their own careers.
Plain English recruitment documentation
This important work has been scoped to begin the process of consistently simplifying the language and content of adverts, job descriptions and person specifications to make sure readers only receive relevant information about the job requirements. This will enable applicants across South West London to easily identify their existing and transferable skills, gained through previous employment and lived experience.
Supporting our local community with pre-employment training
We are introducing the NHS England Step into Work employability programme in South West London, designed specifically for unemployed adults to get them into entry level health and social care roles. We are working with further education colleges to support people currently unemployed into a supported employability programme which is aligned to work experience to build strong interview skills and job readiness. We are also developing accessible guidance and resources to support the overall approach.