Career opportunities in the new NHS
landscape
Alan Simmons
Careers Specialist
National Career Guidance Shows 2014
Join the team and make a difference
A whistle stop tour of…
 Who’s delivering NHS healthcare in England?
 Career opportunities in the NHS
 Workforce plans and trends impacting on career
opportunities
 Labour market information and sources
 Resources available from NHS Careers
 Using the NHS Jobs website
Who’s delivering NHS
healthcare in England?
Since Health & Social Care Act 2012 – who directs funding?
NHS Hospital
Private Hospital
GP
Social Enterprise/
Community Interest
Company
Clinical Commissioning Group
GP
GP
GP
GP
GP
GP
GP
GP
Charity
Implications of the changing NHS landscape
Since April 2013…

A wider variety of organisations (approximately 1,000) now deliver NHS
services in England and …

So staff delivering NHS healthcare are not necessarily employed by NHS
organisations and so not are necessarily on NHS terms and conditions of
service

Local NHS budgets are managed by GP-led Clinical Commissioning
Groups (CCGs) who commission services from the appropriate providers

Health education and training is now commissioned by Health Education
England & Local Education & Training Boards (LETBs)

NHS financial support for eligible students on approved pre-registration training
continues as before

Responsibility for public health now lies within the domain of local authorities
(overseen by Public Health England)
Career opportunities
In the NHS
Staff in the NHS 2013 (approximately!)
Healt hcar e Scient ist &
A HP Sup p o r t st af f
( T her ap y A ssist ant s,
ad min et c)
4%
Sup p o r t t o d o ct o r s &
nur ses ( HC A s, ad min
et c)
2 1%
D o ct o r s & D ent ist s
10 %
Sup p o r t t o amb ulance
st af f
( HC A s,maint enance et c)
1%
N ur ses & M id wives
30%
GP p r act ice st af f ( excl
d o ct o r s)
7%
C ent r al f unct io ns ( HR ,
f inance et c)
6%
Healt h Inf o r mat ics
2%
Ho t el, p r o p er t y &
est at es
5%
M anag er s & Senio r
M anag er s
A llied Healt h
3%
Pr o f essio ns
Qualif ed A mb ulance
5%
st af f
1%
www.ic.nhs.uk
Healt hcar e Scient ist s
5%
NHS Careers categorises careers into 13 areas:

Allied health professions

Midwifery

Ambulance service team

Nursing (incl. health visiting)

Dental team

Operating department practice

Doctors

Pharmacy team

Health informatics

Psychological therapies

Healthcare science

Wider healthcare team

Managers
Workforce plans and trends
impacting on career
opportunities
Workforce plans and trends impacting on career opportunities


Nursing

additional 1,094 nursing places primarily adult/general nursing (9% increase on 2013/14)

several HEIs now offer “dual branch” degrees (e.g. Southampton, DMU, Oxford Brookes)

Govt. announcement of degree-level nursing higher apprenticeships (Nursing Times 5-314). Trailblazing group of NHS organisations & private providers developing pilots in
partnership with HEE, including Northampton Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, Royal
Devon & Exeter NHS Foundation Trust, Norfolk & Norwich University Hospitals NHS
Foundation Trust, Barchester Healthcare, Priory Group and Bupa UK.
Midwifery



no change in commissions for 2014/15
Health Visiting

current target to increase the numbers by 4,200 by 2015 remains

open to newly qualified nurses of any branch/field and to midwives
Operating department practice

Additional 31 places (3.8% increase)
(Primary source: Investing in people for Health and Healthcare. Proposed Education and Training Commissions for
2014/15 - Workforce Plan for England Health Education England (December 2013))
Workforce plans and trends impacting on career opportunities




Allied Health Professions

small growth of 3% in the overall AHP commissions this year

198 additional paramedic training places

slight reductions in speech & language therapy (2%) and occupational therapy (1%)
Doctors

general practice - increase of 222 training places (2.7% increase on 2013/14)

core Surgical Training - reduce core surgical training places by 71 this year

emergency Medicine – reported problems in insufficient emergency care doctors but
these are not due to a shortage of funded training places, problem lies in attracting
trainees to select emergency medicine as specialism. HEE taking action to address this.
Dentistry

reduce the number of commissions for dental students, subject to certain discussions
and keep numbers of funded dental students under review in future

commission further work into expansion of wider dental workforce e.g. dental nurses &
hygienists.
Public Health

commissioned training places for Consultants in Public Health, which will support a
forecast increase in the Public Health Consultant workforce of 18% by 2020
(Primary source: Investing in people for Health and Healthcare. Proposed Education and Training Commissions for
2014/15 - Workforce Plan for England Health Education England (December 2013))
Modernising Scientific Careers

Increasingly opportunities/entry levels at several points:

Healthcare science assistant (work towards vocational
qualifications)/healthcare science associate (work towards FDeg)

Healthcare science practitioner (via Practitioner Training Programme
(PTP) undergraduate entry – after new BSc Healthcare Science)

Healthcare scientist (via Scientist Training Programme (STP) –
graduate entry (replaced previous clinical scientist training scheme))

Consultant healthcare scientist (Higher Specialist Scientific Training
(HSST)) – for experienced and postgraduate qualified healthcare
scientists. Plans to begin introducing HSST from 2014
Primary source: Modernising Scientific Careers: The UK Way Forward (www.dh.gov.uk)
BSc Healthcare Science (Hons) degrees (PTP) at 3-14


Radiation
physics
Radiotherapy
physics
Nuclear
medicine
Medical
physics
Medical
engineering
Radiation
engineering




Cardiff Metropolitan University




De Montfort University



Leeds University






Liverpool University

Manchester Metropolitan University
















Manchester University

Middlesex University

Nottingham Trent University


St Georges University

Swansea University
Ulster University
University of Central Lancashire
















University of Cumbria
University of Hertfordshire


University of Southampton
University of Sunderland




University of the West of England




University of Wolverhampton
Renal
technology
Bradford University
University of Portsmouth



Aston University
University of Plymouth
PHYSICAL SCIENCES &
BIOMECHANICAL ENGINEERING
Rehabilitation
engineering

Respiratory &
sleep
physiology
Neurosensory
sciences
Audiology
Genetics
science
Infection
sciences
Cellular
sciences
Blood sciences
Life Sciences
Anglia Ruskin University
Cardiac
physiology
PHYSIOLOGICAL
SCIENCES
LIFE SCIENCES













Scientist Training Programme Specialisms (2014 entry)
No. of posts
Audiology
Cardiac Science
Clinical Biochemistry
Clinical Engineering - Medical device risk management
Clinical Engineering - Rehabilitation engineering
Clinical Engineering
Clinical Immunology
Clinical pharmaceutical sciences
Critical Care Science
Cytopathology
Gastrointestinal Physiology & Urodynamic Science
Genetics
Genomics
Haematology & Transfusion Science
Health informatics
Histocompatability & immunogenetics
Histopathology
Medical Physics - Imaging (ionising radiation)
Medical Physics - Imaging (non-ionising radiation)
Medical Physics - Radiation safety physics
Medical Physics - Radiotherapy physics
Medical Physics
Microbiology
Neurophysiology
Ophthalmic & Vision Science
Physical sciences & biomediical engineering – informatics
Reconstructive sciences (maxillofacial prosthetics)
Reproductive Science
Respiratory & Sleep Sciences
Urodynamic sciences
Vascular Science
20
32
20
1
4
9
3
5
1
1
4
17
7
6
6
3
1
4
1
2
20
38
6
7
0
5
4
4
6
1
6
Total 244
vacancies
in 2014
Higher Specialist Scientist Training (HSST) Specialisms
Curriculum for the HSST specialisms listed below will be available from April 2014, although additional curricula
may be required in the future.
Life sciences (completion of HSST will include the requirement to achieve the FRCPath by examination)
 Analytical toxicology
 Clinical biochemistry
 Clinical immunology
 Reproductive science
 Haematology
 Histocompatibility and immunogenetics
 Genetics
 Microbiology
 Molecular pathology of acquired disease
 Molecular pathology of infection
 Virology
Physiological sciences
 Audiological science
 Cardiac science
 Gastrointestinal and urological sciences
 Ophthalmic and vision science
 Respiratory and sleep physiology
 Vascular science
Physical sciences
 Medical physics (which includes diagnostic imaging sciences and radiotherapy physics)
 Clinical biomedical engineering
Source: Scaling the Heights: an overview of Higher Specialist Scientist Training (HSST) in Healthcare Science (HEE, 2014)
Apprenticeships in the NHS in the last 4 months - examples
Apprentice pharmacy support
worker
Grimsby
Clinical skills and simulation
technician apprentice
Sheffield
Apprentice craftsperson –
mechanical/estates
Truro
Apprentice healthcare
assistant
Norwich
Apprentice healthcare support
worker
Portsmouth
Estates apprentice
South
Tyneside
Apprentice healthcare assistant
– clinical wards
Gloucester
Stores apprentice
Taunton
Apprentice biomedical support
worker
Norfolk
Apprentice administrative
assistant
Manchester
Healthcare support worker
apprentice
Bromsgrove
Apprentice ambulance care
assistant
Harrogate
Apprentice gardener
Huddersfield
Mechanic apprentice
Coventry
Apprentice administrator –
ophthalmology/dermatology
Norwich
Graphics and multimedia
apprentice
Gloucester
*As advertised on NHS Jobs (www.jobs.nhs.uk)
Candidates should also search on the National
Apprenticeships website (www.apprenticeships.org.uk)
Values Based Recruitment & pre-degree experience
Values Based Recruitment
 What? “Values Based Recruitment - an approach which attracts and selects
students, trainees or employees on the basis that their individual values and
behaviours align with the values of the NHS Constitution”.
 Why? “…to ensure the future and current NHS Workforce is selected against the
values of the NHS Constitution so we recruit for the right workforce not only with the
right skills and in the right numbers but with the right values to support effective team
working in delivering excellent patient care and experience.”
 How? “…can be assessed in a number of ways including through:
 pre-screening assessments
 values based interviewing techniques
 role play
 written responses to scenarios
 assessment centre approaches amongst”
Pre-degree experience
 being piloted in 6 areas of England for pre-entry into nursing degrees (visit
hee.nhs.uk for details)
 check with each university as to their requirements/involvement with pilots
(Primary source: Health Education England website www.hee.nhs.uk)
Labour market information and
sources
Shortage occupation list – from 6 April 2013
Includes:

Healthcare scientists - clinical neurophysiologist; nuclear medicine scientist;
radiotherapy physicist; bio-informatician; nuclear medicine technologist; radiotherapy
technologist

Consultants in: haematology; emergency medicine; old age psychiatry

Non-consultant, non-training, medical staff posts in: anaesthetics; general medicine
specialties delivering acute care services (intensive care medicine; general internal
medicine - acute); emergency medicine (including specialist doctors working in A & E);
rehabilitation medicine and psychiatry

Nurses specialising in: neonatal intensive care units

HCPC-registered: diagnostic radiographer; therapeutic radiographer and sonographer
Source: Shortage occupations list for the UK and Scotland (as at 6 April 2013) from the Migration Advisory
Committee (UK Border Agency)
LMI sources in England
Proposed Education and Training Commissions for
2014/15 - Workforce Plan for England – December 2013
(Health Education England)
Tier 2 Shortage Occupation List – Government
approved version – valid from 6 April 2013
(UK Border Agency)
Workforce risks and opportunities - education
commissioning risks summary from 2012 - March 2012
(Centre for Workforce Intelligence)
Sector Skills Assessment (SSA) for the Health sector
(UK Commission for Employment and Skills)
Resources available from NHS Careers
(England only)
Join the team and
make a difference
What is NHS Careers?

Careers information for England only*
 websites
(4)
 literature
(all free – but available only for organisations)
 contact
centre

Job vacancies  (NHS Jobs for England & Wales)

Careers counselling/guidance 
*There is separate provision in Scotland and Wales
NHS Careers – contact details
advice@nhscareers.nhs.uk
NHS Careers
PO Box 27079
Glasgow
G3 9EJ
0345 60 60 655
www.nhscareers.nhs.uk (main site)
www.stepintothenhs.nhs.uk (for 14-19 year olds)
www.whatcanidowithmydegree.nhs.uk
www.nhscareers.nhs.uk/nursing (nursing microsite)
(www.facebook.com/stepintothenhs)
(www.youtube.com/nhscareers)
Twitter @NHS_Careers
Careers resources from NHS Careers, include...
Main site
Nursing microsite
Undergraduates site
Step site (14-19 year olds)
Step welcome
E-pack
Update newsletter
for Careers advisers
& teachers
Work experience
Toolkit for WEX
Co-ordinators
Lesson Plans
Schools competition
for year 8/9 students
Occasional webchats
for careers advisers
and teachers
www.nhscareers.nhs.uk/explore_teachers.shtml
Features of the main NHS Careers website

Details on the whole breadth of careers in the NHS

Use our coursefinder to search for clinical programmes that lead to
professional registration (e.g. nursing, medicine, physiotherapy, BSc (Hons)
Healthcare science degrees, radiography, etc). We only list courses that lead
to registration – whereas UCAS lists other courses as well. Contact us if you
need clarification.

Download our range of literature – before ordering it

See our Resources for education section – lesson plans, schools
competition, newsletter etc

Links to the stepinntothenhs.nhs.uk, nursingcareers &
whatcanidowithmydegree websites

Links to the NHS Jobs website for job and apprenticeship vacancies in
England and Wales

Information for internationally qualified healthcare professionals seeking to
work in the NHS
www.nhscareers.nhs.uk
Using the NHS Jobs website
NHS Jobs website (England & Wales)
Browse vacancies by career groupings
Simple
search
facility,
Note can
use
keywords!
More advanced search facility
Register for
job alerts
by email
How to apply, hints on
applications and interviews
etc
www.jobs.nhs.uk
NHS Jobs website – advanced search
www.jobs.nhs.uk
NHS Jobs website – vacancy results and filtering
www.jobs.nhs.uk
Using the “keywords or job reference” field…
LOOKING FOR
VACANCIES
RELATED TO…
TRY SEARCH TERMS SUCH
AS…
NUTRITION
“healthy eating”, “diet”, “food”,
“allergy”, “health promotion”,
“nutrition”, “lifestyle”
PSYCHOLOGY
“talking therapies”, “counselling”,
“mental health”, “low intensity”,
“high intensity”, “IAPT”
ADMINISTRATION
“marketing”, “project”, “payroll”,
“finance”, “communication”,
“record-keeping”
SPORT SCIENCE
“exercise”, “fitness”, “lifestyle”,
“stroke”, “physiology”, “cardiac
rehabilitation”
LIFE SCIENCES
“laboratory”, “pathology”, “public
health”, “healthcare science”,
“health protection”
PUBLIC HEALTH
“health improvement”, “health
protection”, “substance misuse”,
“smoking cessation”
EXAMPLES OF RESULTING JOB
VACANCIES
Lifestyle support worker
 Health development practitioner
 Assistant nutritionist/dietitian

Substance misuse practitioner
 Wellbeing Coordinator
 Mental health advisor - trainee

Marketing coordinator
 Employment services officer (recruitment)
 Finance assistant

Rehabilitation assistant
 Health improvement practitioner
 Cardiac physiologist

Training administration asst. (pathology)
 Medical laboratory assistant – advanced
 Newborn screening data manager

Health promotion resource & info. officer
 Integrated care drugs worker
 Administrator (PCT, working at a prison)
