Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
provided work experience for more than 140 people through the Welfare to Work
New Deal project.
Ninety per cent of
these people have found permanent posts with the trust or externally as a
result of the training and experience provided.
The trust has worked
in partnership with Leeds City Council, the Employment Service – particularly
the New Deal’s lone parent unit – and Mencap to highlight job opportunities in
the NHS.
Jim McCaffery,
director of personnel and development at the trust, told Personnel Today the
initiative had helped it recruit much-needed staff and promote its work within
the community.
He said, "The
scheme has been a very good vehicle in two ways – recruiting people into the health service, and making people
more aware of the health service.
"We operate in
quite a tight labour market, there are not a lot of vacancies. This scheme has
helped us to bring people into the workforce, particularly into positions which
are hard to fill."
The trust’s efforts
have been recognised with a best practice Beacon award.
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Shani Choudhari,
project co-ordinator, said the trust had recruited single mothers through the
scheme who were studying for degrees in nursing after starting as health care
assistants.
