Healthcare Horizons programme gets BMA recognition
The Healthcare Horizons programme has been featured as a case study of good practice for helping to tackle health inequalities in new British Medical Association (BMA) toolkit.
It is hoped that the feature will give drive and ideas to other health professionals and healthcare organisations to develop their own widening participation programmes to help their local young people achieve the best possible career and educational outcomes.
What is Healthcare Horizons?
Healthcare Horizons was launched by Barts Health and Barts Charity to support young people in East London to build careers within the NHS. The aim is to encourage and help young people take the first step in their career in the healthcare sector by:
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Increasing awareness of NHS careers
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Raising career aspirations
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Promoting Barts Health as a local employer
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Helping with recruitment to higher education, apprenticeship programmes and employment
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Improving careers advice and guidance provided to young people
Agnieszka Wrobel, Healthcare Horizons’ programme manager commented on the feature:
This is especially important as even before the pandemic there were significant inequalities, with unemployment twice as high for Black and Asian claimants than white claimants. With the pandemic hitting sectors with high proportions of BAME workers there is a high risk that these inequalities will increase. We hope that our programme will provide a lifeline to young people who could otherwise miss out on career opportunities and provide young people with career guidance they may need to make informed decisions about their future.
What has been achieved through the programme so far?
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37 schools across Tower Hamlets, Newham, Waltham Forest and Hackney are engaged with the programme
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1407 students engaged via career events – 1205 from a BAME background
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269 young people completed face-to-face work experience with 258 of these being BAME
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221 young people completed a pre-employment training programme with 98 who have already progressed into employment. 202 of these young people are BAME
People like me are normally not given many opportunities. This programme should take on a lot more people because so many are struggling to gain relevant experience and skills at the moment - Farjana, Pre-Employment Programme
For more information on Barts Healthcare Horizons programme you can get in touch with the team.