Princess Alexandra Hospital hosts event to support adults with learning disabilities and autism into the workplace
Education: Secondary / Wed 11th Dec 2024 at 03:10pm
THE Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust (PAHT) jointly hosted a ground-breaking Innovation Day with ECL (Essex Cares Limited) to support individuals with learning disabilities and/or autism on Wednesday 20 November.
The event was for those who have expressed an interest in applying for roles at PAHT to realise their ambitions of gaining meaningful employment.

It was held in the Learning and Education Centre at PAHT and featured a series of workshops, role play sessions, videos and skills activities aimed at equipping participants with the essential skills they may need to apply for roles; and prepare them for interviews in a nurturing and inclusive setting.
Karen Kingsmill, outreach and retention resourcing partner at PAHT said: “As an employer, we recognise the unique strengths and capabilities of all our people and appreciate the invaluable contributions that diverse perspectives can offer to our workforce.
“We are committed to championing diversity and fostering inclusivity by working collaboratively with ECL, and other strategic organisations, to provide opportunities for individuals with learning disabilities and/or autism to achieve their ambition to gain employment and excel in the workplace.
“The day was a great success and we look forward to running similar initiatives in the future.”
Bobby Wise, inclusive employment job broker at ECL said: “This event gave potential candidates the opportunity to learn more about the type of environment they might work in and understand more about working in a hospital setting, and the varied roles that might be of interest to them.
“The Innovation Day further demonstrates PAHT’s commitment to collaborating with the inclusive employment team at ECL, and supporting candidates with a learning disability and/or autism on their journey into paid employment.”
Anyone interested in attending future events can express an interest by contacting ECL by emailing [email protected]
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'outreach and retention resourcing partner' - And we ask why at a time when we are putting an extra £25.7 billion over this year and next into the NHS, we can only give nurses an offensive £2 a day pay increase.
“Look, we’ve got an extra £60K in the budget - Should we hire an extra nurse to help clear the backlog or should we put it into ‘outreach’?” — “I’ll have a word with the guys in comms, but I’m pretty sure that they will say, that the brand consultants will say that ‘outreach’ is the direction we should be going in rather than patient care.” — “Yeah, I’ll have a word with the guys in Corporate social responsibility to see it they can give us a steer”
I once employed a guy with difficulties. Initially it was subsidized but over time this was reduced. Then some bright spark decided he should be on minimum wage so this guy was then competing with more able people. The Shaw trust weren't interested. To the best of my knowledge he hasn't worked for 16 years. Change the wage rules so that a company pays eg 50% of the minimum wage.
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