South Devon Healthcare FT

A new policy endorsed by the Foundation Trust's (FT) board, that ensures graduates get the first opportunity to apply for relevant posts.

SHA region

NHS South West.

Project dates

In place since late July 2007.

Project work area

A new policy endorsed by the Foundation Trust's (FT) board, ensures that graduates are given the first opportunity to apply for relevant posts through the newly qualified profile pools on NHS Jobs.

Profile of the trust

Devon Healthcare FT is an acute District General Hospital based in Torquay with over 3,500 staff serving a catchment area of over 3,000 square miles, covering 270,000 residents. In the peak holiday season the area has up to 100,000 visitors who are all potential users of the FT's services. The Trust achieved foundation status in March 2007.

Aims and results

The FT-wide policy to support newly qualified healthcare professionals (NQHPs) has been in place since the end of July 2007.

The policy outlines a clear process for supporting this key group to ensure that after trust-sponsored students, the NQHPs in the Strategic Health Authority (SHA) profile pool are proactively contacted first, before advertising them more widely.

As soon a suitable vacancy has been identified and approved by an internal scrutiny group, it is placed in the NHS South West newly qualified profile pool on NHS Jobs. The FT then proactively contacts graduates who match the broad criteria and are seeking work in the NHS, about the post. The candidates are then given access to apply for the vacancy and if successful, are appointed to the post.

The vacancy is only advertised through wider NHS Jobs pool, if the FT has been unable to fill the graduate post through the newly qualified pool.

Very early indications show that the approach is working for example with registered nurse posts in gastro-enterology. All registered nurses in the south west pool were contacted via NHS Jobs to inform them of the vacancies and invited to send the recruitment manager their email address, if they wanted to view the position. Several nurses responded and as a result nine candidates have been short-listed for interviews. So far, two have been appointed into permanent full time posts, with more interviews to follow. Similarly registered midwife post has been filled using the same process.

For more information

South Devon Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust - Maria Stone, Recruitment and Retention Manager, maria.stone@nhs.net