How Entry Level Roles Could Save the Future of the NHS
At Just R we have collaborated with over 50 NHS Trusts over the past 6 years, working hard to create sustainable workforce solutions for them, while attracting and retaining brilliant people to NHS organisations.
With nursing positions becoming increasingly near-impossible to fill due to nurse shortages, we truly believe that the only way to fill these roles is through recruiting into entry level positions with the view to build your workforce up in your organisation. There needs to be more than one clear pathway to working in the NHS in order to save it and build a strong and stable organisation. In the current climate, it is unrealistic to continue forward with traditional recruitment methods when there are insufficient healthcare professionals to fill the ever growing gaps in the sector.
NHS entry level jobs should be a stepping stone into healthcare
There will be a 488,000 shortfall of healthcare workers by 2030 unless we take action now. There is an urgent need to fix this problem… and fast.
According to the most recent youth unemployment statistics comparing January-March 2022, with the pre-pandemic quarter of January-March 2020, the number of young people in employment has fallen by 85,000, a 2.24% fall.
When you look at the rate of unemployment in young people vs the massive gap in health and social care filled with an ageing workforce, there lies the answer. There is a clear need to offer support and build accessible, sustainable pathways for young people into NHS careers.
Recruit an individual rather than a tick box
Entry-level roles into the NHS are a great way to hire people that may not have been considered in a traditional recruitment process. By only hiring on qualification and experience rather than values based attraction, you are excluding a large pool of candidates with huge potential to help the staffing crisis. This is a long term and sustainable workforce solution rather than the current quick fixes we often see the NHS adopt such as overseas recruitment and turning to agencies. The stigma around entry-level positions needs to shift and be implemented as a stepping stone into a career within the NHS, with a clear pathway for development and growth in the organisation. This way, NHS trusts can build their staff upwards rather than looking for quick fix solutions elsewhere which have a detrimental effect overall. Investing in and building up your own staff is also a valuable way in boosting retention and lowering the cost of attraction as staff feel valued and in turn, loyal to their organisation.
Here at Just R, we merit the importance of value based attraction in supporting the NHS and have helped many Trusts attract and convert valuable candidates into entry level roles. This is a key solution in saving the future of the NHS.
