| Methods of
promoting nursing and other health professions in
the NHS have greatly improved in the past few years.
With a constant need for more staff, a steady stream
of effective recruitment initiatives have been introduced
around the country, both on national and local levels.
One of the most important changes has been the development
of more friendly working policies within the NHS,
designed not only to reflect the NHS as an employer
of choice, but also to ensure high retention rates
for staff over the long term.
Improving Working Lives
 The
Improving Working Lives Standard (IWL), sets a
model of good human resource practices against
which all NHS employers are measured. These practices
include more flexible working hours, family-friendly
policies (including an investment of over £70
million over the next 3 years in a National Childcare
Strategy that will provide around 150 on-site
nurseries with subsidised places), zero tolerance
policies for harassment and bullying, and greater
access to career development and further training
for staff.
All NHS organisations have now achieved Pledge
status, which required a public commitment, by
having the policies, practices and people in place
to achieve accreditation under the IWL Standard.
NATIONAL INVESTMENT
Join the Team and make
a difference
For the past three years, major national advertising
campaigns have been proved very successful in
attracting nurses and midwives into the NHS. Scenarios
highlighting the people - nurses, midwives, specialists,
therapists, scientists, paramedics and porters
- who have worked together as a team to restore
a patient back to health, the press and television
advertising has encouraged potential employees
to 'Join the Team and make a difference'. In 2001,
the campaign focused on 'returners', ex-nurses
and midwives, who might be considering a return
to work after raising a family, working abroad
or in another career entirely.
The national advertising is backed up by a host
of local initiatives, many of which are organised
through new, dedicated Recruitment, Retention
and Returner co-ordinators, now based in all hospitals
and Trusts around England.
NHS Careers Hotline and
website
There is now a dedicated hotline - NHS Careers
on 0845 60 60 655 - for queries about careers,
including nursing, in the NHS. NHS Careers will
put callers actively seeking employment or training
in health professions in touch with their local
recruitment contact as well as alerting the recruitment
contacts, on a regular basis, to callers' details.
The hotline staff also have a vast range of constantly
updated literature covering nursing, midwifery,
allied health professions, returning to practice,
as well information booklets for those interested
in becoming scientists and technicians.
The literature, as well as being made freely
available to callers, is also made available to
NHS staff to use in local recruitment initiatives
- for distribution around local Job Centres, libraries
and other 'high traffic' areas for example.
The NHS Careers Hotline has taken nearly 130,000
calls since it's inception in 1999. It is a 24-hour
service, promoted on all NHS recruitment campaign
materials, and it provides a first point of contact
for would-be trainees and those actively looking
for work, including returners to health professions.
The national NHS Careers website, www.nhs.uk/careers
is also an increasingly utilised resource for
those seeking information about working in today's
NHS.
Welcoming back 'returners'
to the team
The scope for increasing the level of such returners
to the NHS has been led by the introduction of
free refresher courses for ex-nurses, midwives,
and increasingly, members of the allied health
professions (such as occupational or speech and
language therapists), as well as healthcare scientists.
Everybody who comes back and completes a Return
to Practice course is eligible for a payment for
£1,000 (£1,500 for midwives to reflect
their extended previous time in training). In
some cases also, assistance and support is made
available for childcare, travel and books.
By the end of December 2001, over 10,240 former
nurses and midwives had already returned to work.
Over 2,153 more are preparing to join them having
completed their re-training.
Starting a nursing career
later in life
Increased family-friendly policies, including
'Step on, step off' training (once you've completed
a year of training, you can 'step out' for a while,
and return to the same point in your course),
mean that a nursing career can be an exciting
option for many more people these days. There
is no upper age limit and mature applicants are
welcome into nurse training by the NHS, bring
with them, good and practical life experiences.
Local Action
Hospitals and Trusts now have specific Recruitment,
Retention and Returner co-ordinators. These dedicated
professionals (many of whom are long term nursing
professionals) are the linchpins of local recruitment
initiatives in the NHS today.
The effectiveness of local Recruitment and Retention
co-ordinators is enhanced through their own local
knowledge of the geographical area and its issues,
such as local housing, education facilities, and
population diversities, as well as their organisation's
specific employee benefits and advantages. For
example, in a Trust close to a national airport,
a specific recruitment campaign was developed
to attract potential recruits from amongst ex-flight
attendants, whilst others have focused on increasing
the levels of applicants from black and minority
ethnic groups in areas the population reflects
a high proportion of these groups.
Their insight into local staffing needs also
means they can 'tailor' a particular recruitment
initiative towards any given target, whether addressing
a need for general nurses, nurses specialising
in a particular discipline (theatre, acute, children
or cancer for example), or midwives. Increasingly,
they are also taking on the challenges of attracting
other health professionals such as therapists
and scientists into the NHS.
They are responsible for recruitment on a local
level, going out and talking to their communities,
organising everything from school and university
visits by health professionals, open days and
job shops, liasing with local groups, co-ordinating
training and return to practice courses with local
education providers, and helping to welcome new
and returning staff to the team. They will often
also involve local papers and other media in stories
about hospital staff or recruitment events.
Job Shops
Although 'job shops' are not a new invention,
the first National Job Shop Day, held in October
2001, provides a good example of a national investment
working together with local activity. All around
England, over 200 job shops, promoting the full
range of jobs and careers in the NHS including
nursing, were set up by recruitment and retention
co-ordinators, backed up by national advertising
and support materials.
The organisers used creativity and their own
local knowledge to ensure that the job shops were
positioned in the most accessible places to attract
visitors. Shopping centres, hospital foyers and
car parks, libraries, restaurants, and conference
centres were amongst some of the venues chosen.
Even free Internet access to dedicated 'Job Shop'
sites at local cyber cafes, and a specially adapted
'recruitment bus' was used.
Relationships between recruitment co-ordinators
and the different departments within their organisations
and outside, also meant that the events were fully
supported with the attendance of representatives
of many of the different careers, such as radiographers,
physiotherapists and speech and language therapists,
as well as nurses, and local education suppliers,
ensuring that all queries could be answered with
appropriate expertise on the day.
The Job Shops attracted anywhere between 50 and
400 visitors to each site, with some Job Shops
able to hold interviews on the day for particular
posts. The national support also included a special
page on the NHS Careers website showing the location
of each job shop and giving a contact number locally
for further information about the initiative,
whilst NHS Careers were also briefed to direct
callers to their nearest event.
National Job Shop Day proved such a success that
the date for 2002 has already been confirmed as
3rd October.
To find out more about making a difference by
joining or rejoining the NHS team, contact NHS
Careers on 0845 60
60 655,
or visit the website at www.nhs.uk/careers.
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