access&opportunity

Scottish Executive Scottish Executive Health Department

Access & Opportunity

New Deal for the Unemployed- As part of the Government's Welfare to Work strategy, New Deal provides unemployed people with the opportunity to study, train and gain work experiences so that they have the basic skills that employers need. As part of Learning Together, the NHSScotland is committed to recruiting 270 New Deal candidates across all appropriate occupational areas. A development manager has been recruited by the Health Department and is working jointly with Jobcentre Plus and the NHS in Scotland to promote and help increase 'New Deal' uptake
Contact Lynn Anderson, the New Deal Manager from here.

New Deal lifts many of the barriers confronting many long-term unemployed and ensures that they are able to find more lasting and worthwhile jobs. There are several circumstances and age groups of unemployed people supported, all with particular needs: young people 18 - 24; Over 25 year olds; Over 50 year olds; self employed; Lone Parents; Disabled People and a now New Deal for Partners.

New Deal candidates start with an interview from a personal advisor from Jobcentre Plus. Skills and job aspirations are discussed and any knowledge or skills gaps identified. Specific help can include interview practice or filling in job applications. NHScotland managers are encouraged to liaise with their local Jobcentre Plus to consider vacancies as 'New Deal' vacancies, as employers can receive a significant amount of money towards costs and training.
Main New Deal web-site is here and Scottish New Deal statistics are here.

Personal Learning Credits of £150 for 3000 NHS staff to invest in their training and development. This funding, now within all Scottish Health Board areas, has been set aside to support nationally recognised development programmes such as those offered by Unison / Workers Education Association or towards S/NVQs. A Health Department Letter (HDL 57) has been published explaining how this funding has been allocated throughout the NHSScotland.

Access to the NHScotland E- Libraries - The NHS elibrary is an exciting new NHSScotland national database available to all NHSScotland staff irrespective of their job or location. It can be accessed from their place of work or home. The e-library is the result of one of the Learning Together Project Development Groups and is an exciting new information and personal development tool enabling all NHS staff to keep up to date with advances and also informed about best practice in healthcare, ranging from Neuro-surgery to basic Health & Hygiene.

The elibrary is a suite of bibliographic databases indexing medical literature and provides access to five major healthcare databases: Mediline, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, Embase and PsycINFO and also provides to the full text of more than 160 journals. All NHScotland staff can now visit a local NHS library, complete a basic form and receive a password. They will then be able to log on to the e-library at work or wherever internet access is available. Click the 'e' link for details..

SVQs - Scottish or National Vocational Qualifications (they're both the same) form a large part of the opportunities that are supported and encouraged within Learning Together. There are so many awards available at different levels and across a huge variety of occupations. Managers, cooks, nurses, technicians and lots of others are supported by these work-based awards. They are designed to be delivered and assessed at work and are based on national standards of competence set out by each respective industry.

These standards outline what a candidate has to know and do in order to prove competence. This means that if you have an SVQ you have a qualification that proves that you have been assessed against the skills, knowledge and abilities expected by employers nationally. More detailed information can be obtained from here. Within the past year (2001 - 2002), the number of SVQ candidates within NHSScotland has more than doubled.

Modern Apprenticeships - These are becoming increasingly popular (More than trebled in the past year 2001 - 2002) with employers and employees alike, and are a key component in the development of a competent Scottish workforce for the future. Based on S/NVQs at level 3, they provide all the skills required for real work that are agreed as relevant within the sector as well as ensuring that candidates develop "Core" skills that are crucial to any job - for example, communication, IT and numeracy skills. there are around 20,000 Modern Apprentices in Scotland today, more and more are joining up within the NHScotland. More details available here.