Northwick Park Hospital has welcomed a new group of interns as part of a long-running programme helping young people with learning disabilities gain experience in the workplace.
The hospital, on the Harrow and Brent border, has been involved with Project Search since 2017 and takes on up to 12 new students each September.
The interns spend nine months working across different parts of London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust, gaining practical experience alongside hospital staff.
Interns work across Northwick Park Hospital
Placements can include departments such as outpatients, pharmacy, the medical equipment library, patient dining, portering, the post room, domestic stores and multi-professional clinical education.
Project Search has helped more than 2,500 young people gain workplace experience, with the programme designed to support people who can face additional barriers and discrimination when looking for employment.
This is not the first time Harrow Online has covered the scheme.
Last year, employment minister Stephen Timms visited Northwick Park Hospital to see the programme in action. At the time, the hospital said around 70% of its Project Search participants had gone on to secure paid employment, compared with a much lower employment rate nationally among people with learning disabilities and autism.
The programme at Northwick Park has previously been delivered with organisations including Harrow, Richmond and Uxbridge College, Kaleidoscope, Medirest, West London Alliance and Harrow Council.
Changes continuing at Northwick Park
The arrival of the latest interns comes during a busy period for Northwick Park Hospital.
Harrow Online recently reported on a new digital check-in system being used in the hospital’s A&E department. The system allows patients to register on their smartphones after arriving rather than automatically joining a queue at reception.
More than 6,700 patients had used the service within its first few weeks, with around two-thirds of people arriving at A&E checking in digitally. Hospital staff said the system was also helping them identify potentially more seriously unwell patients earlier.
There has also been a change at the top of the NHS trust running the hospital. Mark Titcomb was appointed interim chief executive of London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust this summer, replacing Pippa Nightingale.
The trust employs around 9,000 clinical and support staff and provides services to approximately one million people across Harrow, Brent and Ealing.
Alongside Northwick Park, it runs St Mark’s Hospital, which is based on the same site, as well as Ealing Hospital and Central Middlesex Hospital.
Northwick Park is also a major teaching hospital and forms part of a trust involved in clinical research, medical education and the training of doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals.
For its newest group of Project Search interns, however, the next nine months will be about getting first-hand experience of working in one of north west London’s busiest hospitals – and potentially taking an important first step towards permanent employment.
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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.
