Future Workforce

A national vision and call to action for school nursing services has been recently published and the North West is investing in an implementationprogramme to support the partners involved in this work. The implementation programme is being led by the Child Health Development Programme and the North West Regional Youth Work Unit and wish to hear from all involved partners to explore their views, needs and support mechanisms they would like to see employed in this project. The project will last until the end of the year and will cover all North West areas.

Local Education and Training Boards (LETBs) are part of the new education and training architecture, first introduced in Liberating the NHS: Developing the healthcare workforce - From design to delivery.The North West Local Education and Training Board, known as Health Education North West, is a collaboration between healthcare organisations and other partners in the region to ensure that they develop a highly skilled workforce capable of meeting the needs of patients today and in the future. Health Education North West will work through devolved arrangements with three Local Workforce and

Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CMFT) has always offered work experience for school and college age learners, but in addition, since March 2010 a staff volunteering programme has been in place, designed to help inspire young people and to open their eyes to the career opportunities in healthcare.This not only broadens their horizons but serves to nurture the next generation of NHS staff and gives existing staff the opportunity to mentor and support the learning of these young people, which can be a very rewarding experience.