Background
Livewell Southwest provides integrated health and social care services across South Hampshire, West Devon and Plymouth. Livewell Southwest is one of the largest independent social enterprises in England, with a workforce of approximately 2,800 people, of which 750 are nurses.
The workforce is made up of a range of health and care professionals, reflecting the diverse services required to support an ageing population with increasingly complex health and social care needs. Leaders at Livewell Southwest deeply value their staff and are keen for everyone to achieve their full potential – offering a range of development opportunities from apprenticeships to clinical training.
The value of 'growing your own' workforce
In order to keep a sustainable balance between international and national recruitment, leaders at Livewell Southwest have heavily invested in ‘growing their own’ workforce, working closely with local communities to encourage more people to enter the health and care sector. Leaders at Livewell Southwest were particularly keen to engage people from traditionally seldom heard groups, including people who are long term unemployed, people struggling with their mental health and single parents.
To support this, the people directorate started looking at the barriers to recruitment within their local communities and found that it can be very difficult to access the opportunities on offer. The organisation has therefore removed the requirement to have previous experience for all band 2 roles, instead opting for a values-based recruitment process. From this, the organisation has developed a pathway that allows people to automatically progress from band 2 to band 3 after 6 months without the need for an interview, thus breaking down barriers to progression.
Livewell Southwest has also started a project with local schools to recruit school leavers to a nursing associate development programme. Individuals are recruited onto an early development programme for three months before carrying out a nursing associate course, which is fully funded by the organisation. Staff are paid a salary by the trust while undertaking the training. Livewell Southwest has also worked with Plymouth Marjon University to develop a bridging module, allowing nursing associates to access degree courses without any prior qualifications, opening up opportunities to become qualified nurses.
The importance of learning and professional development
As well as developing the programme to recruit new starters into the organisation, Livewell Southwest are supporting retention for existing staff through a number of initiatives. As part of a new development pathway, band 5 staff can automatically progress to band 6 once they have achieved key competencies. Removing barriers to progression can reduce the number of staff looking for role development opportunities elsewhere. Livewell Southwest also has apprenticeship programmes for administrative and support staff to allow people develop no matter their current role.
To support learning and development with the organisation, Livewell Southwest has secured ringfenced funding from a local university, which can be used for continuing professional development (CPD) and scholarship pathways. Given that community interest companies and social enterprises have not historically had access to national CPD funding, leaders at the organisation have had to think innovatively about how they can generate income to support learning and development. Despite financial constraints, leaders at Livewell Southwest are committed to protecting development and education programmes. They recognise this is key to bolstering recruitment and retention within their organisation.
Supporting retention within the organisation
As well as their commitment to supporting learning and development, embedding a positive working culture is also vital within the organisation. Livewell Southwest has a number of staff networks. These groups can help people feel supported, both professionally and personally, at work. There is also a wellbeing fund to support suggestions that would improve staff experience. For example, staff asked for outdoor benches to give them the opportunity to eat lunch outside. This has been successful in improving staff wellbeing.
Leaders at Livewell Southwest are proud of the work they have done to support new recruits within the organisation. The organisation has a dedicated 'people experience' team who provide support for new starters in their first few months. New starters can approach the team to raise queries about a range of topics, from parking to wellbeing. Having this support is hugely valued by new starters and helps develop a sense of community, supporting retention within the organisation.
Livewell Southwest has also developed an initiative which supports staff to transfer between roles internally. So, if an individual is not satisfied with their current role, they can apply for an internal transfer and managers will look to support them to move to a different team within the organisation. This supports retention by helping to match people to suitable roles.
Enablers to progress
Leaders at Livewell Southwest are clear that having access to funding for CPD is vital to support staff retention. This year was the first year that NHS England provided funding for CPD to community interest companies and social enterprises. This is a positive step, and the team at Livewell Southwest would like to see recurrent funding for CPD available to community interest companies and social enterprises.
Developing a strong relationship with the local integrated care systems (ICSs), One Devon, is another enabler to supporting recruitment and retention. Leaders at Livewell Southwest have been working at system-level to share learning on their recruitment and retention programmes. This has ensured the organisation is included and involved in recruitment and retention projects that the ICS is carrying out. Leaders at Livewell Southwest believe it is vital for systems to understand the role of the local social enterprise sector and how it can support care provision for local communities.
Going further, faster
In order to increase recruitment and retention to the community sector, both for social enterprises and the NHS, leaders at Livewell Southwest believe more funding for and a greater focus on implementation of CPD programmes is vital. Staff want to grow and develop in their careers and must be supported to do so through learning and development opportunities. Without the ability to progress, there is a risk that nursing and clinical staff see their time in health as a stop gap rather than as a long-term career.
Diversifying the pathways into the community sector will also allow providers to go further faster. While apprenticeships can play a vital role, there are often financial challenges to scaling this up, including a lack of funding to backfill roles taken up by apprentices and those providing the training. The sector would also benefit from national level support to encourage higher education institutions to increase the number of degree level apprenticeships for clinical roles, particularly as providers struggle to recruit registered nurses.