Apprenticeships and Positive Action for Diversity

There are many reasons why prioritising diversity in NHS apprenticeship schemes can greatly benefit the organisation. The NHS people plan focuses on the importance of diversity and all will be familiar with the proposition that a trust should mirror the community it serves. The more a workforce mirrors the community it serves the better the patient experience of care. Where better to start with this diversity than your apprenticeship schemes.

However although the Equality Act 2010 allows employers to introduce positive action measures to increase representation for disadvantaged and protected groups a lack of understanding about what positive measures actually means in practice is often thwarts their best use.

In this presentation we will look at three forms of positive action with a specific focus on widening the diversity of NHS apprenticeship schemes and how they are actually applied in practice. Reserving places on relevant training courses to assist with applications, interviews or ability to do the job in question, providing mentoring schemes to increase representation of disadvantaged groups at a senior level in the organisation (and yes apprenticeships can apply to senior level posts as well as junior), and the “tie-break” provision as it applies in recruitment.

Feeling confident about what you can do is simply a case of knowing where the legal boundaries lie and how best to use positive action to benefit your apprentices, your organisation and subscribe to the ethos of the NHS people plan. Our presentation will provide the enhanced knowledge that you need in this area.