Reaching out to the Forces Family

Off By Ed Hanna

Just like the famous rock candy, respect for the skills and talents of Service-leavers and Veterans runs right through the core of Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

The Trust holds the Gold Award from the Employers Recognition Scheme jointly run by NHS Employers and the MoD and has Veteran Aware Hospital status. Additionally, the Trust works to support those leaving the Forces, and Reservists, which includes linking in with Step into Health, Career Transition Partnership, and Family Forces Jobs to help Service-leavers find employment with the NHS.

We encourage applications from the Forces Family to any of the wide variety of jobs available across the Trust including: medical devices department, electricians, plumbers, engineers, pharmacists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, radiographers, pathology assistants, HR, project managers, and IT, as well as nursing, healthcare assistant and doctor roles. Aside from specific skills acquired in your Forces days, we are acutely aware of the other attributes that Service brings and look forward to seeing them applied in a role with us.

Sitrep
Situated on the west coast of Lancashire and operating within a regional health economy catchment area spanning Lancashire and south Cumbria, the Trust supports a population of 1.6 million, providing specialist tertiary care for cardiac and haematology services across the region and also hosts the National Artificial Eye Service.

You might only know Blackpool as a seaside resort and yes, while we provide a range of acute services to 352,000 people living in the Fylde coast health economy, we also care for the estimated 18 million visitors that flock to the area – on top of providing a wide range of community health services to the 445,000 residents in the wider area.

Our employees bring a wide range of backgrounds and experiences to the workplace. The equality, diversity and inclusion lead is also the Armed Forces Champion, and supports staff across all the protected characteristic groups, such as LGBTQ+, BAME, disability and of course, from the Armed Forces. The Trust also has a staff intersectionality ED&I network and is setting up a Reservists and Ex-Forces Network.

Army Captain applies his Military skills in civilian healthcare
One of our recent success stories associated with Military transition saw a former Army Captain join Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust in December 2020, to help run the vaccination and staff testing programme. Having Served in the Royal Logistic Corps and also with the Parachute Regiment – he was able to hit the ground running and get things done!

He now leads the vaccination programme team, working to coordinate efforts with other trusts across the region. Enthusiastically thanking him, Janet Barnsley, Executive Director of Operations at the Trust, says: “He was thrown into the deep end with the hospital hub vaccination programme, mass vaccine programme and asymptomatic staff testing (LAMP). Nothing has fazed him and in a few short weeks he has become a very valuable member of the team and will take on anything asked of him!”