Local NHS Trust gets positive about training

South West Yorkshire Mental Health NHS Trust has launched a new training scheme to help more people from South Asian communities gain employment within the organisation. The Positive Action scheme will also help to ensure that the Trust’s workforce is representative of the population it serves.

The Positive Action Training scheme will provide training opportunities and encouragement for people from underrepresented groups. While the traineeships will not guarantee employment, they do lead to a nationally-recognised qualification and it is hoped that, at the end of the training, trainees will be equipped with the skills they need to secure a job within the NHS.

Human resources manager Claire Hartland said, "This was a new venture for the Trust. Five traineeships were identified within healthcare and administration. These traineeships offer successful applicants the opportunity to gain an NVQ 2 in health and social care, customer service or business administration. This will really open doors for them and hopefully boost the number of people from underrepresented groups applying for and gaining employment within our Trust."

The Trust has been working in partnership with ATL (The Centre for Enterprise and Diversity) who have helped to publicise the scheme at various recruitment events. Claire Hartland concluded, "It is hoped that this pilot scheme will promote the NHS as employer of choice, initially for people from South Asian communities, but ultimately for people from all underrepresented groups."