New approach revitalises recruitment

As we’re all aware, recruitment is a key success measure for the NHS, both at the current time and over the coming years. With this in mind, colleagues in imaging have been working on reviving their recruitment process with the aim of getting more applications and increasing interest in SWB.

We spoke to CJ Browne, Group Director of Healthcare Professions. She said: “I felt that recruitment in imaging needed reinvigorating; we weren’t making the most of our USP, the opening of the Midland Met Hospital with state-of-the-art equipment, and we tended to rely on more traditional methods.

“I wanted to highlight the importance of our approach to staff wellbeing and the opportunities we offer within the Trust.”

CJ worked with the communications team to utilise social media for recruitment, creating a TikTok video which showed a snapshot inside the radiography department and the friendly team, and encouraged people to come on board and apply. The campaign was highly successful: “As a result of this activity, we had over 310 applicants for radiographer positions. Given that there is a national shortage of radiographers, we were so excited by this.”

The team haven’t stopped at the recruitment drive: to address the shortage of radiographers, they have recently made apprenticeship roles available and are now training six apprentice radiographers in conjunction with Keele University and

Imaging

Sheffield University. They are also recruiting Internationally.

CJ concluded: “We’ve now gone through four days of interviews and we’re really excited to move through the next stages with the induction process for the new starters.

“We’re really proud, as this enables us to support the local community and bring on board students from the area. It drummed up a lot of interest in the hospital, and it shows that updating your approach can have a huge impact on your results.”