NHS Employers has published a new toolkit aimed at assisting NHS organisations to diversify their workforce by recruiting staff who have experienced homelessness. The toolkit has been developed working with people who have experienced homelessness and NHS organisations that have engaged with this area of widening participation.
The new toolkit contains recruitment tips and strategies and retention practices to support health and social care organisations to recruit people who have experienced homelessness into the workforce, and to support them to stay in and thrive in their roles.
Designed for individuals and teams working in NHS Trusts responsible for the recruitment of entry-level roles, including healthcare support workers, cleaners, administrators, porters and others. The toolkit is also intended for recruitment teams who are interested in making their processes more inclusive, as well as managers who recruit, line manage and support individuals.
Recruiting and supporting individuals who have experienced homelessness can make a positive impact on the lives of the individuals concerned and the communities NHS organisations work with. Encouraging young people to join health and care careers helps to create a sustainable, diverse and inclusive workforce, whilst adopting inclusive recruitment strategies will help to tackle inequities and collaborating with partners works to achieve better outcomes for all.
The project was commissioned by NHS England working with input from Pathway, Royal Society for Public Health and Groundswell, alongside five Trusts who employed people with experience of homelessness into the Trust.
The toolkit can be found on the NHS Employers website.
If you have any good practice recruitment examples you would like to share, please contact the NHS Employers workforce supply team.
