East of England

Best Practice

East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust

Talent for care team The Talent for Care Team supports staff across ESNEFT and promotes career opportunities within ESNEFT and the NHS. The team participates in outreach work with local education institutions. The team introduces the idea of careers in healthcare to children as they approach choosing GCSE or leaving school and going into employment.

The Talent for Care Team enrol staff members onto a huge variety of apprenticeships. These include an annual Nurse Degree 'top up', ODP, Healthcare Assistant Practitioner and ACP cohorts, as well as new apprenticeship opportunities being explored.

ESNEFT are in the process of becoming an apprenticeship training provider, enabling the trust to develop its own bespoke programmes for a range of different apprenticeships. The Talent for Care team explores which apprenticeship is most suitable for staff and will help to develop a career. Community Diagnostic Centre ESNEFT opened an early adopter Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC) at Clacton Hospital in Tendring. Clacton was chosen as a location because it combines high deprivation with high population density (it is home to the most deprived neighbourhood, Jaywick, within Suffolk and North East Essex). CDCs provide a broad range of elective diagnostic services away from acute facilities, providing easier and quicker access to tests and greater convenience to patients.

The CDC includes X-rays and ultrasound scans, blood tests, physiological measurements, pathology, and endoscopy services. This Community Diagnostic Hub improves health inequalities by providing a better experience for patients, reducing waiting times and providing greater availability of, and access to, care.

The team introduces the idea of careers in healthcare to children as they approach choosing GCSE or leaving school and going into employment.