ABSTRACT
This chapter is concerned with ‘Get Ready’ and Outside/In GYO workforce strategies comprising interventions that seek to raise awareness of NHS careers and increase recruitment from local labour markets. Local labour markets are made up of (1) jobs that are available in a locality, (2) citizens that might have an interest in those jobs who could, for example, be young people studying in schools, the unemployed or adults in other jobs who might be interested in a career change, and (3) those institutions, agencies and organisations that are concerned with local employment, such as employers, colleges, Job Centre Plus and local authorities. Until recently the NHS has not extensively engaged with local labour markets, although this is changing through the work of ICS’s and the recognition in The NHS Long Term Plan that the NHS is an anchor institution in its communities. Anchor institutions are organisations, such as sports clubs, that have a long-term presence in an area and significantly impact on their local community, perhaps because they are a major employer or own large estates. Interventions to support Outside/In GYO workforce strategies include employer engagement with local schools and colleges to raise awareness of NHS careers, volunteering, work experience, college-based healthcare vocational qualifications particularly Technical Levels, and traineeships. An aspect of Outside/In GYO is supporting people who may experience barriers to obtaining jobs, such as people with a learning disability or ex-offenders or young people leaving the care system, into employment. This is described as ‘supported employment’ and resources are often available to employers to assist them provide job opportunities. There are a large number of benefits that arise from the NHS adopting an Outside/In GYO approach to workforce planning, including addressing workforce shortages, recruiting a support workforce that reflects the community to serves, improved organisational performance and improving population health. These strategies improve population health because work is one of the main social determinants of health and well-being. The NHS is well placed to offer quality work to local people, including disadvantaged groups. Successful Outside/In GYO requires collaboration with a wide range of external partners, with local authorities and local authorities being particularly important.
