Healthcare Horizons

Run by Barts Health NHS Trust and Barts Charity, Healthcare Horizons is enabling students to learn more about different health professions, access higher education and secure employment within the NHS.

Over 1,000 school and college students from over 37 schools in the boroughs of Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest, Newham and Hackney have already participated in a variety of initiatives tailored to their age.

The programme includes a raft of support to give young people a taster of stepping into the shoes of healthcare workers:

• Access to career awareness sessions, online mentoring, hands on events and work experience placements.
• Direct support and advice offered for students planning to apply to universities.
• Bespoke two week pre-employment training and regular events showcasing the range of available opportunities to help people to access apprenticeships and entry level jobs in the health sector.

About the programme

The programme helps young people embark on health careers and make informed choices about their future. This is a major intervention to improve access to, and entry to, career opportunities in east London.

Through our work we aim to encourage and help young people from our local communities to make the first step on their exciting career in the health sector through;

• Increasing awareness of NHS careers
• Raising career aspirations
• Promoting the NHS as a local employer
• Helping with recruitment to higher education, apprenticeship programmes and future employment
• Improving careers advice and guidance provided to young people

The Healthcare Horizons programme is working with secondary schools and colleges within Hackney, Tower Hamlets, Newham and south of Waltham Forest.

Background to the initiative

The NHS is the largest employer in Britain and offers over 350 careers to choose from. But finding one’s way through the maze of how to make your start in helping deliver Britain’s healthcare can be a challenge, especially if you do not come from a background that has strong connections with health professionals.

The Healthcare Horizons programme has been developed with the intention of delivering short and medium-term improvements in recruiting and retaining suitably qualified staff with focus on local recruitment.

Our offer:

Years 10-13

• Career talks in small groups
• Parents talks to increase awareness of existing career pathways
• Virtual work experience platform

Years 12-13

• Barts Health summer school
• Career events
• Work experience
• On-line mentoring

17-30 year olds

• Pre-employment training programme (non-clinical vacancies and apprenticeships)
• New2Care pre-employment programme (Healthcare Support Workers vacancies)

For more information click here.

Please note that due to a high demand we are unable to accept requests from individual students or schools outside of the selected boroughs. If you are a student wishing to get involved, please speak with your school or college career advisor to find out if it is already part of the programme.

Jobs and career advice

Find out more about different careers at NHS Health Careers.

The website is designed to help students, career advisors, job seekers and those already working in the health sector but looking at a career change or career progression.