Pictured: Jemma Garbett (left) and Nicki Lewis-Downing
(right), of Pertemps People Development Group, join Rachel Burton
at the NHS Learning Hub in Birmingham
Unemployed people in the West Midlands who have been struggling
to get back into work are being given the chance to begin new
careers in nursing thanks to an exciting new jobs initiative.
The NHS Learning Hub, based at University Hospital Birmingham
(UHB), has joined forces with employment and training experts
Pertemps People Development Group (PPDG) to launch a scheme giving
jobseekers opportunities to work in local hospitals.
Five have already started work and a further 12 are expected to
begin their new roles soon. It is hoped that other hospitals will
run similar schemes next year, offering employment opportunities to
people across the West Midlands.
One of those to benefit is Gareth Edwards who has spent most of
the last nine years out of work while caring for his father and his
grandmother. Gareth, aged 37, from Bournville, is thrilled after
recently starting work as a nursing auxiliary at Queen Elizabeth
Hospital.
Under the Government's new Work Programme, PPDG and the Learning
Hub are staging training programmes to give local unemployed people
the best possible chance of securing nursing auxiliary jobs.
PPDG clients from across the West Midlands have been attending
awareness sessions to learn more about the job opportunities. Basic
skills testing and an introduction to the NHS follows. A group of
jobseekers is currently taking part in a one-week NHS Building
Health Course (Nursing Auxillary PET/JIG).
PPDG Employer Engagement Director Nicki Lewis-Downing said: "We
are really excited about this new joint initiative, working
hand-in-hand with the team at the NHS Learning Hub. There is no
doubt this offers a fantastic opportunity for many of our
unemployed clients to gain secure and sustainable employment with
the National Health Service.
"It is through the great working relationship we have all forged
that our clients can now access these wonderful job opportunities.
Our Harborne-based employer liaison co-ordinator Jemma Garbett is
working closely with Rachel Burton, the Learning Hub manager, to
deliver the initiative. It is possible that dozens of unemployed
people could secure jobs at hospitals in the region as a
result."
Rachel said: "UHB is one of the largest employers within the
West Midlands region and, as part of its workforce agenda, the NHS
Learning Hub aims to offer a high quality training and employment
service to individuals offering sustainable careers within the
health care sector. The collaborative working with PPDG results in
giving unemployed individuals a real 'edge' to their chances of
obtaining employment."
The PPDG team helped Gareth during the recruitment process by
creating a new CV, internet training, and motivation and confidence
building. He attended the NHS awareness session and passed literacy
and numeracy tests. After attending the five-day Learning Hub
course he was offered a job which he began last month.
Gareth said: "Having worked as a porter previously, I knew I
wanted to go back to a career with the NHS for job security.
Because of the care my Nan received when she was poorly I wanted to
go a step further and become a nursing auxillary. It was my way of
giving something back and saying thank you for the excellent levels
of care she received from the QE Hopsital.
"My advice to anyone looking to get back to work would be to
speak to an advisor at Pertemps People Development Group because
they all genuinely cared about my personal situation and career
options. I have been with providers in the past but I have never
received the level of support and guidance that PPDG in Harborne
offered me and I wouldn't be able to start work without them."
For more information about the NHS Learning Hub career
opportunities contact Jemma Garnett 0121 454 7231 or visit
www.yourppdg.co.uk.
PPDG won the five to seven year Work Programme contract as a
prime deliverer in the Birmingham, Solihull & Black Country
region in a national tendering process carried out by the
Government. PPDG's team of employment experts provides advice on
benefits, confidence building, one-to-one support, CV and interview
preparation as well as finding the right job or training course. In
partnership with DWP, the Ministry of Justice and Jobcentre Plus,
PPDG delivers a diverse range of employment and training
initiatives and many programmes financed by the European Social
Fund. PPDG came fourth in The Sunday Times Best Companies to Work
For 2011.
For more information about Pertemps People Development Group,
please visit their website here: www.ppdg.co.uk