One of Serco’s delivery partners in Birmingham, Reed in Partnership, has supported one young jobseeker into a promising career within the NHS, with vocational training on offer and a clear progression route. 

Aneesa had been unemployed since completing her A-Level's twelve months before joining the Restart Scheme. On agreement with her Job Coach, focus was put on helping her to formulate her job goals, improve her CV and practice interviewing. Aneesa attended several workshops to support this activity and on completion had a Gold Standard CV relevant to her sector of choice (Care).

With her Job Coach’s support, Aneesa started applying for care-based roles in the NHS which also offered her additional training opportunities. Soon, she secured a place within the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, completed the training on offer and went on to pass an interview with the University Hospital Birmingham Foundation Trust (UHB) who were looking for a full-time Theatre Support Worker.

As a Theatre Support Worker, Aneesa will receive training in:

• health and safety
• infection control
• an introduction to the department and its systems and procedures
• as well as undertaking relevant vocational qualifications

Aneesa says:

"My experience coming to the Learning Hub was that I learnt a lot and it was amazing. I would advise anyone thinking of joining the programme to definitely join."

Aneesa is thrilled that her starting salary is almost £20,000 per year and she is looking forward to a promising career within the NHS. With experience, she can work towards becoming a Senior Theatre Support Worker, a supervisory role. Congratulations Aneesa.

UHB Recruitment Manager, Julie Dawes, says:

"As the Trust’s “ Theatres Recruitment Manager”  it’s important to adopt a number of recruitment methods so that we attract the right staff. The recent “Theatre Support Worker” employability programme allowed us the opportunity to broaden access to disadvantaged areas and to create an inclusive entry pathway thus creating a more diverse workforce representative of our patients. By using employability programmes as a means to recruit to posts we are attracting applicants based on their interest in working for the NHS and their values and not just on prior experience.”