Step into Health

NHS Jobs has partnered up with NHS Employers to support Step into Health – a national recruitment drive for former members of the armed forces.

This May, we’re launching a new function on the NHS Jobs portal that enables employers to add the question ‘are you a member of the Armed Forces community’ to application forms.

Candidates who respond positively to the question will have an icon attached to their application that will allow recruiters to easily identify armed forces candidates. This means employers can run reports on how many armed forces candidates have applied, been shortlisted, interviewed and appointed.

Gemma Wright, programme lead for the Step into Health programme, said: “We’re so pleased this identifier functionality for members of the military community has been added to NHS Jobs.

“We hear so often from employers how difficult it is to identify service leavers, reservists, veterans and military spouses that are applying for roles in their organisation. With this new functionality, employers will be able to identify candidates from the Armed Forces community at this stage of the recruitment process.”

The Step into Health programme works with employers and service leavers to provide a dedicated pathway for members of the Armed Forces community to transition into a career in the NHS. The programme highlights the many career opportunities available, particularly non-clinical roles, and the transferrable skills which service leavers and their families can bring to the NHS.

The new identifier on NHS Jobs will form part of guidance currently being developed for recruiting managers by NHS Employers about what military applications may look like, and how to remove conscious and unconscious bias around them

Matt House, a consultant paramedic at North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust and an army reservist, said: “When I initially interviewed for a job within the NHS, I was able to use examples from my military experience that related to teamwork and leadership, which gave me a good advantage. Being deployed has also allowed me to develop my clinical knowledge and skills in a way that complements my work in the NHS.”

Using NHS Jobs, employers can also put the Step into Health logo on their organisation’s profile, and some employers even explicitly state in their advertised roles that they welcome applications from the Armed Forces community.

Clare Fulton, whose husband currently serves in the Royal Navy, said: “My managers in the hospital were so supportive of me being a military spouse and really took me under their wings – the family I needed when I was away from my own.”

NHS Employers supports organisations in adopting the programme, ensuring that Step into Health is embedded in recruitment strategies and workforce supply routes.

For more information about Step into Health, and to join the growing number of organisations who have signed up to the programme, visit: www.nhsemployers.org/stepintohealth