Sheffield Health and Social Care NHS Foundation Trust (SHSC) is playing a central role in helping to deliver new roles across the NHS to respond to national workforce challenges.
To bolster the workforce a range of new roles, such as Nursing Associates, Physician Associates and Peer Support Workers have been created and are being implemented across the NHS.
SHSC is working on a national project with the University of Sheffield (with £800,000 of funding coming from the National Institute for Health and Social Care Research) to ensure the new jobs are introduced so that they strengthen the healthcare system as a whole for the benefit of service users and those delivering care.
And on Wednesday 24 May, the New York Stadium in Rotherham played host to a meeting of local mental health trusts including SHSC where colleagues came together to share ideas and experiences.
Helen Crimlisk is SHSC's Deputy Medical Director and was a key note speaker at the event.
Helen shares her thoughts below on the event:
"Local Mental Health Trusts, SHSC, Rotherham Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation Trust, South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and Sheffield Children's NHS Foundation Trust have been looking differently with regards to the workforce needed to deliver services in South Yorkshire.
"This includes new developmental opportunities to help current staff to deliver more (such as advanced practice and approved clinician roles); finding different routes into mental health careers (such as nursing associates, physician associates and clinical associate psychologists) and seeing the value of lived experience through peer worker roles, which are a great way of harnessing the enthusiasm and skills of people who have used our services, which can also be the entry point to other careers in mental health.
"The event focussed not just on the new roles but also on how staff work together to ensure that their skills are used effectively to benefit patient experience and care. Employing staff in new roles often means that other staff need to work differently too which can be challenging but also an opportunity to ensure staff are doing the elements of work for which they have been trained.
"It is great to be working closely with our partners on this.
"At the event we were able to share expertise of the successful recruitment or development of staff in new roles and we are planning to develop a South Yorkshire Integrated Care System resource for new Mental Health, Learning Disabilities and Autism roles to share the learning further."
