Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust

(2021 – ongoing)

An ongoing initiative to leverage employment opportunities towards people who are farthest from the jobs market to tackle the social determinants of health.

Context

The Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust identified that the profile of their employees was older, less diverse and more affluent than the local population and have adjusted their recruitment approach accordingly.

Community wealth building approach

Northern Care Alliance now identify less affluent postcodes where their employees are underrepresented and have developed pre-employment programmes in conjunction with these communities to help target groups get ready for work. The Trust reserves many entry level positions for the recipients of this training, bypassing the advert and interview process that had previously proved a barrier to entry.

By using their power as employers to tackle the social determinants of health, the Trust have moved beyond recruiting “the best person for the job” to using the job to do the best by the people who make up their local economy.