Getting young people into care careers

We hear about Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes Integrated Care Board’s (BLMKICB) recent work focused on recruiting younger people into health and social care.

As part of our #RecruitRight campaign, we hear from Jason Gosling, Employment Pathways Project Manager, and Jane Hall, Senior Workforce Transformation Project Lead, from Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes Integrated Care Board (BLMKICB) on some of their ongoing work to support recruitment of younger people and marginalised groups into health and social care.

Jason Gosling - Employment Pathways Project Manager

I joined the ICB in 2023, having previously worked in employability support for disadvantaged and marginalised people through roles at the Job Centre and DWP. My focus has always been on helping people overcome barriers such as housing, addiction, homelessness, disability, and low aspirations.

I also have a brother who experienced challenges in employment as he was born with Down syndrome. I believe in equality of opportunity and that, with the right support, many people can improve their circumstances, health, and connection to their communities.

A key focus of our work has been ensuring strong pastoral support and clear career progression pathways for those who want to work in health and care. When we first began working collaboratively with different stakeholders, we carried out a large mapping exercise to identify the existing employability, health, and volunteering support available. This helped us engage with a wide range of partners and begin taking meaningful, tangible steps forward in making opportunities in health and social care more accessible.

Our team supports a variety of projects aimed at getting people into our sector, many of which overlap in some way. Our most recent project is the Passport to Health and Social Care Careers programme, which is now entering its fourth delivery. It was originally designed with a focus on NHS career pathways, but we have since expanded it to include social care. This has been great, and we have seen a strong attendance and completion rates, with around 60–70 learners so far, with 90% completing the course.

One of our other projects, the BLMK Health and Care Academy Advanced Course, focused on supporting people in the 18 to 30 age range. This course offered real insight into almost every role in the health and social care environment and focused heavily on softer skills like resilience, reflective practice, giving and receiving feedback, and personal presentation through applications and interviews. We also do a lot of myth busting in this programme, trying to address the idea that social care is all about things like taking old people to the toilet. There are hundreds of different roles across health and social care, and this needs to be recognised.

We frame to our participants how there are real pathways for progression now, especially with apprenticeships and levy-sharing across our integrated care system. Our goal is to provide the insight on where these opportunities are and how best to apply for them. This includes the basics of job applications but also includes things like understanding and highlighting your transferable skills.

For our latest BLMK Health and Care Academy Advanced course, we also brought in further education colleges for the first time. It helped us reach students who may be facing disadvantage or have a lack of awareness of how to progress in a care career and give them access to support alongside their studies.

In terms of outreach, a great deal of it happens through forums, events, emails, and flyers, but our employment hub is also a key resource. It stands out because of its personal touch: we share real stories and journeys in there from people already in health and social care, which we’ve found is the most engaging way to inspire people and show what’s possible in a career in the sector.

Jane Hall - Senior Workforce Transformation Project Lead

I’ve worked in the NHS for over 40 years, mostly in acute care, but more recently in primary care. A big part of that role was setting up clinics for people experiencing homelessness, where we saw firsthand how employment could have a huge impact on them. Since then, I’ve come to appreciate how important it is to help people achieve their career goals.

Back in 2023, we were facing a real shortage of entry-level healthcare support worker roles, so we launched a campaign through NHS England to help address it. The campaign was a huge success and the response was overwhelming, with over 800 people applying. However, what stood out was that around 500 applicants didn’t even make it to interview stage. That told us there was a clear gap - not in interest, but in preparedness for job selection and work.

These were people willing to apply but who needed more support around CV writing, personal statements, and interview preparation. That’s what led us to develop what was initially called the "Passport to NHS Careers”. After developing this course, we realised there were similar issues in the adult social care sector, with a huge need for staff at all levels. This led to the programme being retitled as it is now known - the Passport to Health and Social Care Careers programme - as it now includes social care.

The programme covers a wide range of topics to support individuals exploring careers in health and social care. It begins by busting common myths about working in the sector and highlights the transferable skills that employers are looking for. It supports participants in setting goals, conducting effective job searches, and developing strong applications, including writing supporting statements and CVs, and building interview skills. It concludes with action planning and guidance on next steps to take towards securing interviews or a job.

Alongside this, we have Health and Care Academy Advanced Course. While it initially focused on 16–18-year-olds through T Levels, we recently completed our first course for the 18–30 age group—targeting another gap in support. It combines employability training with insights into roles across health and care, including simplified application routes into various roles in both health and social care.

The core message of all our programmes is simple: while technical skills can be learned, employers are really looking for individuals who are resilient, caring, self-aware, and ready to take on feedback. For those who successfully complete a programme with us, they enter a talent pool. We offer tailored application support from there, and we’re now starting to see real results with people securing roles and progressing in their careers.

One of the approaches we find quite effective in terms of sharing our message and programme details is promoting our app. We have a mobile app that is essentially a replication of our employment hub website, which people can download and access all our information and guidance. When our colleagues visit a college or school to promote our programmes, we always encourage students to download the app so it’s right there on their phone when if they want to follow through and find out more.

So far, we’ve had some really positive feedback from participants in both programmes, so I thought I’d finish with some of my favourite quotes from some of our learners:

Make sure to visit our ‘Recruiting the right people’ campaign web page which offers insights, guidance, tools and resources to help employers with their recruitment activity.

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