Publish date: 1 February 2023
A light was shone on West London NHS Trust and its refugee recruitment programme at the London Anchor Institutions Network Conference this week.
Representatives from many different organisations across the capital, including staff from the Trust, came together on Tuesday 31 January at Senate House at the University of West London.
The event opened with an address from the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, who spoke about how anchor institutions can be a greater force for good and help transform people’s lives.
As part of the event there was a panel discussion about the role of NHS trusts as anchor institutions.
The discussion was called 'Transformation at scale: A conversation with the NHS' and included Nathan Christie-Plummer (Pictured top left), Deputy Director for Workforce at West London NHS Trust.
As part of the panel, Nathan explained how it's really important the Trust is "representative" and "inclusive" of the community it serves.
He told how the Trust and its partners across North West London hosted a refugee recruitment fair in November last year which was attended by more than 100 refugees, hailing from countries including Syria, Afghanistan and Ukraine.
He described the recruitment event as a "win-win" for the Trust, who offered 40 refugees positions following an interview process.
He explained: "The refugees we spoke to said how they've never had anything put on like this with opportunities to interview on the day and be offered a role."
The Trust is looking to host a similar event later this year and aims to attract even more refugees and find them employment.
Nathan said: "It's not just the right thing to do. We have a lot of vacancies in the NHS, so it's a win-win as far as I'm concerned."
He added: "Our staffing can be representative of the public we serve."
Also speaking as part of the panel were Lizzie Smith, Regional Director for Health Education England and Dr Jo Sauvage, Executive Medical Director for North West London Partners in Health and Care.