Mental Health, Learning Disability and Autism and organisations in West Yorkshire have been working together undertaking a portfolio of transformation programmes to improve the lives of people with porr mental health, a learning disability or autism. To deliver these programmes, we need a well and sustainable workforce. Our Mental Health, Learning Disability and Autism Workforce Strategy sets out how we aim to achieve this. Read or download the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan.
Find out more in our Mental Health, Learning Disabilities and Autism Workforce Strategy 2024-27.
As part of its focus on growing the Mental Health Learning Disabilities and Autism (MHLDA) workforce in West Yorkshire, the MHLDA Programme has published a new brochure with information and links that aim to help people understand more about what's on offer in this rewarding and potentially long-term career.
Our three NHS Mental Health, Learning Disability and Autism Trusts - Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust; Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust are looking for people to fill a wide range of roles at their sites in Bradford, Leeds, Calderdale, Kirklees, and Wakefield.
Some jobs need no previous experience or qualifications. We have roles such as housekeeping and cleaning, care workers and catering staff, receptionists, porters and people who maintain our grounds and buildings as part of our estates teams. There are clinical roles such as nurses, occupational therapists, psychologists and psychiatrists, and also roles in corporate functions such as administration, personal assistants, purchasing, supplies, logistics, accounts and more. We also have lots of apprenticeship opportunities in a variety of roles.
Learning Disabilities nursing is a fantastic career choice if you are committed, compassionate and keen to support and work in partnership with individuals of all ages, from children and young people, to the elderly. It's a rewarding profession, focused on helping people with Learning Disabilities maximise their potential, maintaim their health and wellbeing, and - crucially - promote an increased life expectancy.
You can find out more about how to train as a Learning Disability Nurse here.
Watch and listen to what our Partnership Chief Executive Rob Webster says about Learning Disability Nursing.
Learning Disability Nurses work in a variety of settings. Watch as Mick Lambert, Learning Disability Nurse in the West Yorkshire Police Liaison and Diversion service talks about his day. Read more about how Mick works with people with Learning Disabilities who come into contact with the criminal justice system.
Our recent Learning Disability Education Engagement Programme reached more than 2,000 students in schools across our five places. Everyone who took part said that their understanding of what it takes to be a Learning Disability Nurse had increased as a result of the project, and 92% said that they would consider becoming a Learning Disability Nurse.
Feedback from students was rewarding with one saying "I like that it helps us know more about nursing. She gave me the hope of becoming a nurse one day." And "I liked how we got to put ourselves in the shoes of an LD Nurse. It helped me understand the job more."
You can find out more about the project from this report.
Learning Disability Nursing and other roles associated with it are great career options that we would like more young people to be aware of. Ahead Partnership has worked with us to produce three resource packages for teachers, tutors and careers advisors to use. Read our report on this work and its impact. View the resources here.
We are excited to announce that we have been selected to take part in the NHS England National People Promise Exemplar Programme 2024. The programme aligns directly with the NHS Our People Promise and NHS Staff Survey, pledging to set out actions to foster an inclusive culture, enhance staff experience and improve retention. This work will allow us to focus on developing our offering to staff and drive positive change through a series of workforce initiatives.
We are passionate about making our Trusts a better place for our staff to work and grow and will be working together to deliver retention interventions over the next year. The interventions we plan to deliver include flexible working, team rostering, improving exit interviews, stay and itchy feet conversations, staff transfer schemes and a pastoral support scheme for Healthcare Support Workers.
If you would like to find out more or get involved in any of these initiatives, please contact our People Promise Manager, Natalie Wong at Natalie.Wong9@nhs.net.
The MHLDA Collaborative is exploring how we can embed new ways of working to improve the recruitment and retention of the workforce. Examples of these are the establishment of a collaborative bank and the system wide approach to exploring new roles.
The MHLDA Workforce Collaborative launched the West Yorkshire Staff Collaborative Bank in January 2024. 1500 people have expressed an interest to join the collaborative bank and Trusts are working through onboarding. This will enable bank staff to work shifts in any of the Trusts. The aim of the project are:
A West Yorkshire Staff Bank worker said: "It went well, staff were friendly and helpful in putting me through a lot of things regarding their respective wards and how they operate. A lot to take in, one thing is noticeable, they are well organised. On the whole, it was a good experience." ience.
Visit the West Yorkshire Staff Bank to find out more.
Across the MHLDA Collaborative, we have a West Yorkshire New Roles Group. The aim of this group is to explore opportunities for new roles across the collaborative and support the successful integration of such new roles across WY Mental Health, Learning Disabilities and Autism services. To ensure delivery of its role and function, the membership of the group must be diverse, and representative of the population served with the right complex support and service management arrangements necessary to deliver quality driven and assured services. Membership comprises of Directors, Senior Operational Managers, Professional Leads, HEE, Workforce Planners and Corporate Service representatives and meets every six weeks.
Useful resources identified and shared within this group will be posted on this page. If you would be interested in finding out more about the group or have information you would like to present or share, please contact sonya.robertshaw@nhs.net.
Health Education England has launched two new resources to support systems with their workforce redesign efforts.
The Health Education England Roles Explorer (located on the NHS Futures platform) is a collection of resources to support those responsible for planning and delivering workforce redesign to introduce new roles, or innovative adaptations to existing roles already being deployed within a service or system. It provides information on the capabilities, training requirements and career frameworks for different roles, enabling workforce planners to choose the best fit for their service model. It also contains a wealth of resources to support the introduction of new roles, including best practice planning methods and case studies which illustrate how roles are being deployed across different system priorities.
The multi-disciplinary team toolkit provides a comprehensive guide on building and developing effective multidisciplinary teams across a broad range of professional groups and system structures. It is designed to be relevant in any setting, to any objective, to progress a ‘one workforce’ approach: a workforce drawn from a range of health and social care disciplines, working seamlessly as a productive, multi-functional team across clinical pathways, for the benefit of patients/service users.
These are just two of the assets provided by the national Workforce Transformation Team. Find out more on the Health Education England website.
Good practice in Developing New Workforce Roles Guide, is a suite of resources that have been built on good working practice that offers advice to workforce designers when modelling supply and demand, whilst supporting NHS and social care employers. - Good Practice in Developing New Workforce Roles Seminars
Good Practice Guide in Developing New Workforce Roles
Key lessons in development and implementation of new roles
Future Workforce Solutions for Mental Health And Learning Disabilities Services Event
