RECRUITMENT AND TRAINING
Access to a new, diverse, and talented workforce
Mark Jackson, deputy director of Estates, Facilities and IT at The Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, considers the key benefits he has seen from his experience of implementing DFN Project SEARCH’s innovative training programme across three different Trusts. He explains the wider impact the learning disability employment and education scheme could have if rolled out across the entire industry – including financially, on recruitment and diversity. Looking specifically at his own Trust’s work, he pinpoints specific examples of how partnering with DFN Project SEARCH has become a valuable strategy for hospital estates and their wider communities.
Everyone deserves the right to aspire to having the best opportunities in life, and to making themselves the best they can be. There came a point in early adulthood for each of us where we picked our paths and ventured into the world of work or further education.
Ideally, there wouldn’t be any barriers stopping anyone from making – what might seem to some – a simple step towards bettering themselves. Yet, that simply isn’t the case.
Nationally, just 5.8 per cent of people with learning disabilities and autism go on to secure full-time paid employment, regardless of their background. This is despite around 75 per cent of those with learning difficulties wanting to get themselves into employment.
Having highlighted the need for greater equality and help with the transition from education into the workplace, at The Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust we identified the successful work produced by the DFN Project SEARCH, as we teamed up with its pioneering initiative in a bid to enhance the employability opportunities for young people with learning disabilities and autism.
A proven track record
DFN Project SEARCH is an international training programme that boasts a proven track record of supporting young people with learning disabilities and helping them into paid employment – and one that I personally have been involved in and helped implement for close to a decade. The programme enjoys a success rate of getting 60 per cent of people who undertake it into real-world jobs, which is a substantial increase on the national average.
DFN Project SEARCH provides real-life work experience, combined with training in employability and independent living skills, to help young people with learning difficulties and autism spectrum
20 Health Estate Journal October 2019
conditions to enjoy a productive adult life and attain high quality employment in their local area. The ultimate goal for each participant in the programme is to secure a full-time position or gain experience of working in competitive employment. These foundations are pivotal to its success, and The Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust has reaped the rewards of a mutually beneficial partnership. The scheme is close to my heart for several reasons, but having personally benefitted from a placement of my own as I made my way through university, I beg the question, ‘Why shouldn’t everybody?’ While studying at Sheffield Hallam University, I carried out my own year-long placement at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust before the Trust took me on full-time, so I understand the power and potential of being thrust straight into employment. Since then I have gained 22 years’ experience working within the NHS, starting off in Capital Works doing refurbishment projects, before moving on to Operational Estates, and then taking up my current director
role. Through working with DFN Project SEARCH, Nottingham University Hospitals, University Hospitals of North Midlands, and The Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, have all been instrumental in providing enhanced employment opportunities for people with autism and learning difficulties.
A strong support network Participants in DFN Project SEARCH are aided by a stringent support and learning network that guides them throughout the year-long scheme. An onsite tutor and a full-time skills coach, alongside a participant’s family, come together to create a joined-up learning environment and guidance towards an overall employment goal. Together they deliver the support that an intern needs for a successful transition from education to work – through continuous feedback and 800 hours of skills acquisition as they continue their studies.
However, they are based full-time with the Trust, and participate in three department rotations throughout the 10
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