Northwick Park Hospital welcomed MP Stephen Timms, Minister of State for the Department for Work and Pensions, during a visit to see the success of a programme that helps young people with learning disabilities and autism into employment.
The initiative, called Project Search, gives students the chance to gain hands-on experience working within the NHS. Since launching at the hospital in 2017, the programme has taken on up to 12 interns each September for a nine-month placement.
Graduates from the project have gone on to work in departments such as outpatients, pharmacy, the medical equipment library, patient dining, portering, and more. The programme has achieved a 70% success rate in helping young people find paid employment, significantly higher than the national average of just 7%.
Project Search is run in partnership with Harrow, Richmond and Uxbridge College, Kaleidoscope, Medirest, West London Alliance and Harrow Council.
Pippa Nightingale, CEO of London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust, said: “We know statistically that this group of people struggle to find employment and we hope our actions encourage more employers to follow suit and give these young people a chance.”
Chris Mitchell is the founder and editor of Harrow Online, Harrow’s leading local news platform.
He launched Harrow Online in 2010 as a Facebook page sharing local news and information. Since then, it has grown into a trusted source for breaking news, crime, council decisions, planning, transport, business and community stories across the borough.
Harrow Online reaches hundreds of thousands of readers each month and has a social media audience of more than 200,000 followers.
For news tips, press releases or enquiries, contact Chris at info@harrowonline.org.
