Publish date: 23 November 2022
More than 100 refugees gathered at Trailfinders Sports Club in Ealing last week for a special recruitment fair.
The North West London Refugee Job Fair was held on Thursday 17 November with NHS Trusts and organisations from across North West London coming together as part of the event.
This is possibly the first refugee focused NHS recruitment event in London.
Hosted by West London NHS Trust, the Trust is supporting refugees who have arrived from the UK from a number of difficult environments.
The project was started in the spring of this year by Trust CEO Carolyn Regan, but it has a North West London wide focus, working across the NHS and social care in delivering employment and volunteering opportunities for refugees.
The NHS is also facing unprecedented staffing difficulties and the event provided an opportunity to fill roles and create others.
Nathan Christie-Plummer, Deputy Director of Workforce at West London NHS Trust, said: ""Thank you to everyone who attended our special Refu-Tea recruitment event last week, including our partner organisations across North West London.
"West London NHS Trust is an anchor institution and has a social responsibility to engage all parts of the community, including those who have travelled overseas as refugees.
"We're committed to becoming an inclusive and representative organisation with our staff representing those we support.
"Targeting workers from both clinical and non-clinical backgrounds is also important to developing our highly skilled workforce, which boasts more than 4,000 employees.
Prior to the fair, the project had managed to find employment for 11 refugees across Trusts in North West London, including six in West London, with a further 26 candidates being considered for roles.
"The number will drastically increase thanks to the recruitment fair.
"Thanks again for everyone's support and keep your eyes peeled for further events like this in the future."
The event saw refugees from countries including Syria, Afghanistan and Ukraine, who hail form a health sector or social care background.
At the event, employers from the various NHS Trusts across North West London met with refugee candidates and held face-to-face interviews.
In total, 117 refugee candidates attended the event, along with 35 staff members representing the NHS Trusts and partner organisations.
On the day, the Trust interviewed and offered jobs to 21 refugees, who applied for the role of Health Care Support Worker.
In addition, the Trust hired six admin staff, two facilities technicians and received 26 expressions of interest for a variety of roles.
The Trust also had 30 volunteers agree to sign up and work with staff.
This means the number of refugees employed by the Trust will increase to 35 and we will continue to look at further opportunities to expand our refugee workforce.
Other North West London NHS partners did well too, London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust (LNWH) received 35 applications, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS (Chelwest) 60, Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust (CNWL) 80 and Imperial College London had 80 applications.
The other organisations which attended, included North West London NHS Reservists, Department of Work and Pensions (Job Centre Advisors from Wembley and Harlesden), Barriers Breaking (refugee employment support) and the Shaw Trust.
Further refugee job fairs are planned in the coming year. If you are interested in learning more about this project or making a referral, please contact anthony.sembatya@westlondon.nhs.uk.