Health minister visits Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust
The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, the Rt Hon Steve Barclay, visited Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust last week to find out how it is recruiting more young people from local communities and creating new roles to improve patient care.
Mr Barclay visited Chestnut Ward at University Hospital Lewisham, where he met Ayam Nur, 29, who secured a role as an apprentice Healthcare Assistant after completing the Prince’s Trust’s ‘Get Started in the NHS’ programme.
Ayam, 29, from Greenwich, said: “I chatted to the minister about my role and how much I enjoy working here. He asked lots of questions and was genuinely interested in what I had to say. I really appreciated the visit – it uplifted my spirits!”
Mr Barclay also met some of our mental health wellbeing practitioners, a new role created by the Trust to support with the care of mental health patients while they’re waiting for a mental health bed in a specialist unit.
Ben Travis, Chief Executive of Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust, said: “We have reduced our vacancy rate from a high of 12% in September 2022 to 9.1% in April 2023, which is partly down to our innovative recruitment schemes.
“We have also redesigned our urgent and emergency pathways to reduce the length of stay for patients in our Emergency Departments, and I’m really pleased that we were able to showcase these improvements to the Secretary of State today.”
Ruby Smith, Director of Health and Social Care at The Prince’s Trust, said: “The Prince’s Trust is committed to helping young people into health and social care careers through our free courses run in partnership with the NHS. To date, over 4,500 young people have secured job offers through the programmes, including many at Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust.”
Steve Barclay said: “The NHS is a major employer and it’s vital that it recruits from all parts of our community.
“We've been working closely with the Prince's Trust to help young people who may not have applied for roles within the NHS.
“I’ve met some of those inspirational apprentices at Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust and been heartened to see how young lives have been changed by this work.”