Home ‘Can Do’ Health and Care Community Focused Anchor Institutions

Anchor Institutions

Anchor institutes are large organisation that are ‘anchored’ in place, having a significant impact in that place. Its assets and resources can be used to maximise social, economic, and environmental benefits, improve health outcomes and tackle health inequalities. Due to the unique role that ICSs have in building collaboration and partnerships on a system wide level, they are able to bring NHS and other statutory anchor institutions to facilitate strategic change at scale that might not be possible for organisations working in isolation. A charter has been developed to reinforce the key role that local NHS organisations have to optimally impact on the health and wellbeing of our local communities.

The Suffolk and North East Essex ICS Anchor Charter

The Suffolk and North East Essex ICS Anchor Charter described how partners in the ICS, particularly local NHS Trusts could have a positive impact on their local communities through their role as local employers, purchasers, land and asset owners and in the way that they impact the environment and work with their local community.

SNEE ICS Anchors Dashboards - please click on the links to view

Anchors Dashboard – Employers

Anchors Dashboard – Estates and Environment

Anchors Dashboard – Procurement and Communities

Employment

Our Ambition – Local People have stable, fulfilling jobs that pay them at least a living wage, and offer them opportunity to learn, grow and progress

You can read the Anchors Workforce Impact Report here

Case Studies – how we are making progress as Employers

Launch of the SNEE Healthcare Support Worker (HCSW) Recruitment Hub

The ICB has led the development of a recruitment App to help remove the barriers applicants face in securing roles as a HCSW which after just weeks of launching received Special Commendation at the Healthcare Support Worker Shared Learning Event for innovative recruitment practices.

The app was co-designed with the key stakeholders in the community including the VCFSE sector, DWP, NHS HR leads and prospective and previously unsuccessful candidates. It builds upon the experiences of the recruitment team from their community outreach work that engaged with underrepresented communities to understand the barriers they face to accessing employment and developing careers in health.

The engagement enabled them to view the recruitment process through a different lens and consider how they could address high vacancies of HCSWs by looking at new ways of working. The engagement highlighted:

Recruitment processes were too formal and lacked a valued based focus
There was a lack of insight for new recruits to understand what’s involved in working in healthcare roles
Failing to consider the transferable skills of those who have worked in other industries such as hospitality
Not providing sufficient reasonable adjustments for job seekers that might need/benefit from 1:1 support or coaching and mentoring
Lack of awareness of the reasonable adjustments needed for refugee and asylum seekers relating to DBS and language barriers and providing more support with training and pre-employment training opportunities
Offering greater flexibility for middle aged people who needed flexibility for caring responsibilities
How to benefit from the lived experiences of candidates who may have learning disabilities or mental health which gives them a greater understanding of the diversity of patients.

‘The Co-production workshops helped us understand the barriers – until we had done that, we would have never known about the approach to take. Listening to our local population and understanding the barriers was key to this work and we realised that the language used, and the desirable criteria listed in the Job Spec created barriers let alone the actual application process.’

This insight resulted in a number of significant changes to the recruitment process and development of the app which now includes

A shortened application process
Value based interview questions
A Resource section on the app to provide more details about the role and what to expect – using video rather than lengthy written documents that are inaccessible
A guaranteed interview for all applicants using the app
Promoting volunteer opportunities for people who aren’t quite ready for paid employment but are keen to experience working in a healthcare environment

A bespoke pre-employment course enables people to be ‘work ready’ which has been developed in partnership with Colchester Institute offering accredited and unaccredited training to reflect candidate’s needs.

Engaging the next generation of medics

Engaging the next generation of medics

Working collaboratively with Anglia Ruskin University (ARU), ESNEFT is launching ‘NextMedic’, a programme specifically for students from disadvantaged backgrounds who have a keen interest in medicine. The programme will provide an opportunity for those students who would not typically have had the exposure or awareness to apply to medical school before.

The programme will be open to students in Year 9 and span over 5 years. Students will attend inspiring events/teaching days per annum, year 4 will close with a work experience placement at ESNEFT in early summer and the final year will conclude with a fun group event for the end of programme review. The programme will provide these students with invaluable experience. Participants will have a buddy/mentor throughout the duration of the programme who will be a Medical Student at the ARU School of Medicine.

On successful completion of the programme students will have the opportunity to apply to medical schools and where applicable will be offered a lower conditional offer.

The programme launched in September 2023 with two cohorts offering 20 places to Year 9 students (full 5-year programme) and 12 additional places for Year 12 students who will complete the last 2 years of the programme.

Apprenticeships - Tendring District Council – Career Track

Tendring District Council (TDC) have used their role as an anchor organisation to help progress apprenticeships for over 40 years. Career Track supports businesses in Tendring and Colchester to recruit and train apprentices in in Customer Service, Business Administration, Team Leading and Supervision and Public Service Operational Delivery Officer.

The service offers support and advice with the recruitment process of new staff as well as supporting existing staff on to an apprenticeship, developing tailored training plans as well as exploring funding opportunities and other training options.

Tendring District Council | Career Track – Apprenticeships (tendringdc.gov.uk)

Gold Standard work experience at NSFT

NSFT’s Talent for Care team has received a gold quality award for the standard of work experience it offers, opening doors to future employment and apprenticeships.

The award of the gold standard was made by Health Education England (HEE) and will last for two years.

HEE’s Work Experience Quality Standard has been created to help healthcare organisations to quality assure their work experience placements. Organisations must demonstrate how the placements they offer are planned, delivered and evaluated.

It also aims to ensure that learners are not disadvantaged because of their geographical location or organisational interpretation of work experience.

Career facilitator at NSFT, Elisha Gladwell said: “Before the award was achieved the NSFT work experience offer was extremely limited. In fact, we didn’t offer any placements during covid, just virtual ones twice a year. Now we have had more than 40 applications already this year.”

The trust now runs a work experience induction, has implemented a work experience workbook, offers peer support while on placement and follows up with students post placement to keep engagement until they leave school /college.

“Work experience is a crucial tool in developing our future workforce, “said Elisha. “We focus on the growth of the workforce through pre-employment engagement to attract the next generation of workers. It can provide an individual with ‘real life’ experience, an introduction to a working environment, opportunity to improve key skills/personal development and employability and an insight to the variety of careers in the NHS and NSFT.”

The quality standard criteria are broken down into six sections and each has multiple points that need to be adhered to and evidenced in order to achieve the quality standard.

Elisha said: “It was a huge task to collate all the evidence required to meet the criteria. Initially NHS England request a minimum of 12 pieces of evidence for the gold standard. I submitted over 50 documents for review to demonstrate our work and the work we have done with our work experience students.”

She said the team was “unbelievably proud” of achieving the award. And she added: “The generosity of our colleagues across the Trust to host and support our work experiencers has been golden.”

Chief people officer and deputy CEO at NSFT Cath Byford said: “This is a great achievement for the Talent for Care team. Work experience is an excellent way of introducing young people to the idea of working for the NHS and helps build for our future.”

Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust webpage here

Suffolk students join hospital staff on wards

The fruitful partnership between two key local organisations has continued this month, as cohorts of health and social care students from West Suffolk College have begun to experience working life at the West Suffolk Hospital.

First to arrive at the hospital, part of the West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (WSFT), were second-year students who are taking the T Level Technical Qualification in Health. T Levels are equivalent to three A levels, and focus on vocational skills, helping students into skilled employment, higher study, or apprenticeships. Each T Level includes an in-depth industry placement providing valuable experience in the workplace, and this is the first time the Trust has welcomed T-Level students.

The students, aged 17 and 18, hope to take up a career in the health and care sector, and during their 45-day placement at the West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds, will have the chance to work in a variety of settings.

Practice education facilitator with the WSFT clinical education team, Maria Musgrove, said: “During their seven weeks with us, they will be assigned to three different places, two stints of two weeks, and a final three weeks where we will try and give them a placement that aligns with their interests. This will give them a real variety of experiences in different services that look after our patients. They will also have teaching sessions, where we can help them learn more about working in the NHS, developing their career and how to apply for jobs.

She continued: “During their July induction prior to starting the placement, we had different speakers, and one of the young men expressed an interest in midwifery. We’ve arranged for him to work with a male midwife in our maternity department and this might mean that one day we have another male midwife joining us.

“Being able to work with the college to offer T Levels is brilliant news for our team. It helps open doors for the students and given them real insight into working in a hospital. We are very grateful to the teams on our wards and in our departments who welcome these young people and share their time, knowledge, and experience.”

A week after the T Level cohort, a group of BTEC health and social care students, also in their second year, arrived to start their work experience at the hospital, again welcomed by Maria. “Over 12 weeks they will have a day’s placement with us each week, on the wards, and also classroom learning. We have colleagues working at the Trust who spent a BTEC placement with us and have joined us, which is such a good thing for our future workforce,” said Maria.

The young people from the college all expressed a mixture of anxiety and excitement about taking up their placements on T Level or BTEC courses. All had ambitions to work in social care, and planned to apply for university, apprenticeships, or further training after completing their courses.

Naomi Meara, head of the health and social services department at West Suffolk College, said: “We are delighted to have this opportunity for our students. We have a long-standing relationship with the hospital that continues to go from strength to strength and are very grateful to the WSFT for their ongoing support.”

West Suffolk Foundation Trust webpage here

Purchasers

Our Ambition – The local economy is buoyant and has thriving businesses that create employment opportunities, deliver their businesses in an environmentally sustainable manner and support their local community to be a better place to live and work.

You can read the Anchors Procurement and Community Impact Report here

Environment

Our Ambition – People in Suffolk and North East Essex live in an environment that is environmentally sustainable and more ecologically friendly.

You can read the Anchors Estates and Sustainability Impact Report here

Land and Estates

Our Ambition – People in Suffolk and North East Essex live in an area where public sector land and building assets benefit communities

You can read the Anchors Estates and Sustainability Impact Report here

Case Studies – how we are making progress across our Land and Estates

Repurposing buildings - Michael Burke Wellbeing Centre, Hartismere Hospital, Suffolk

Partnership between: NHS Property Services, SNEE ICB and numerous VCFSE organisations.

Overview: Previously a hospital birthing unit, the Centre was repurposed in 2019 and then after a period of closure during Covid, it was relaunched in 2023. The majority of the redecoration work was completed by NHS volunteers to create a vibrant community hub and garden to be used by a wide variety of organisations including Hartismere League of Friends, Connect For Health Social Prescribing, MS Support Group, Eye Family Carers, Communities Together and the Eye Archives and Heritage Group who can use the facilities free of charge.

Celebrating the Michael Burke Wellbeing Centre in Eye – NHS Suffolk and North East Essex ICB

Co-locating services - Haverhill Leisure Centre, Suffolk

Haverhill Leisure Centre, Suffolk

Partnership between: West Suffolk Council, Abbeycroft Leisure Centre (ACL), West Suffolk Foundation Trust (WSFT) & Allied Health Professionals (AHP) CIC

Overview: Co-locating a range of health services to utilise the treatment rooms at Haverhill Leisure Centre to improve access for local people and enable greater collaboration between services. The West Suffolk Midwifery team provide antenatal care and also work in partnership with the leisure centre to deliver Actives Mums a weekly session incorporating antenatal information, healthy lifestyle advice as well sessions from other health providers along with some gentle exercise. Allied Health Professionals CIC provide a range of physio services from the centre and work in partnership with the centre to deliver joint pain programmes.

NHS Health checks are also delivered from the centre and ACL are commissioned by WSFT to deliver 3 patient pathways; orthopaedics exercise on referral, frailty strength and balance, and respiratory breath better.

Green Spaces - Kennedy Way Community Garden

Partnership between: NHS Property Services, CVS Tendring (CVST) & SNEE ICB

Overview: The garden is located in the patient and staff car park of the Kennedy Way Medical Centre in Clacton. As part of the redevelopment of the new medical centre, the unused wasteland that existed in the carpark was identified by CVST as an opportunity to create a green space that could benefit staff and patients using the medical centre as well as members of the community. The aim of the space is to improve physical activity, green social prescribing and improve wellbeing through connecting with communities, feeling valued and improving confidence and skills. We are supporting people with learning disabilities, people with mental health issues, people who have learning disabilities and isolated males to join the Men’s shed. We are also promoting the Garden to people who are not physically active. Local surgeries signpost patients to the Garden to aid wellbeing.

Film: Big Help out VOLS together – YouTube

Film: Kennedy Way Community Garden – YouTube

Green Spaces - Colchester Hospital Well-being Garden

Partnership: ESNEFT, Colchester & Ipswich Hospitals Charity and the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS)

Overview: A redesign of the existing garden area to provide a well-being space for staff and patients. The garden has been designed by Gardeners World presenter Adam Frost with a focus on well-being and climate change. In addition to providing a welcome green space for visitors, a key priority was the sustainability of the garden which features drought tolerant sustainable planting that provides a living laboratory to learn from, in addition to a wildlife garden to welcome in pollinators. As part of the co-design process, the RHS have provided monthly online and face to face gardening sessions with hospital staff to raise awareness of the new garden development and promote the benefits of gardening and nature.

Communities

Our Ambition – People in Suffolk and North East Essex live in an area where public sector organisations work together and work closely with local people, listen to and react to what matters most to them, spread good ideas and model civic responsibility.