From ambulance teams to Zoonotics

Health Minister John Hutton launched the NHS Careers 2005 advertising campaign to encourage more people to take up healthcare careers, with 26 members of the NHS, including three allied health professionals, five healthcare scientists, two doctors, seven nurses, one midwife and eight members of the wider healthcare team. They were chosen from among 1.3 million current staff across England. Each of the staff at the launch in Westminster, London, represented a different profession, bringing the A-Z of the NHS to life [see photos attached].

The 2005 NHS Careers campaign is a call for people from all backgrounds, ages and qualifications to join the team and make a difference in any one of the 300 different jobs and careers in the NHS.

This yearís campaign targets particular professions such as primary care staff, community nursing, midwifery, radiography, healthcare science and mental health nursing, as well as the role of healthcare assistants.

John Hutton said:
We are confident that the new NHS Careers campaign will build upon the success of last yearís campaign. Initiatives such as flexible, family friendly working practices, access to childcare, on-going training and development and the new improved pay structure of Agenda for Change are attracting new entrants and encouraging existing staff to stay with the NHS.

We believe that by promoting the huge variety of roles and benefits to workers available within the NHS, through high profile campaigns such as this, we will continue to increase the numbers joining or rejoining the workforce. This will, in turn, lead to quicker treatment for more patients throughout England.

Since 1997 we have seen big increases in the numbers of new staff joining the NHS, or taking up university places to study for a healthcare profession as well as returners to nursing, midwifery, radiography and other career groups. For example, we now have more than 77,500 more nurses and 19,000 more doctors.

HITTING THE MILLIONÖ
During last yearís campaign period of eleven weeks, the NHS Careers contact centre received almost 95,000 enquiries from the public about opportunities within the NHS.

Since its formation in 1999, NHS Careers has informed more than 950,000 people about the wide range of career options available to them within the NHS.

The service expects to take its millionth call during the spring 2005 campaign launched this week.