Transcript
The National Breaking Through programme is an important initiative in the NHS, why is it important? Because it’s about making sure that Black and minority Ethnic staff have the opportunity to be the best that they could possibly be. We know that our populations are growing and changing and that there are more and more people from diverse backgrounds within society generally, subsequently they will be using health services, it stands to reason that all our staff have opportunities to perform at all levels in the NHS and what we know is that the bulk and the majority of staff are sitting at the lower levels.
This programme has been designed specifically to help support people from black and ethnic minority backgrounds who are talented, to become the best that they can be, to be able to perform at Board level or even higher than Board level on some occasions, so that they can influence and impact on the services for all members of our population.
So Breaking Through is a programme that the NHS endorses, we have very very very senior level support from David Nicholson and from others who are very keen to make sure that our NHS is representative at all levels of the population that we are serving.
What future career progression can I expect by joining the Scheme?
Breaking Through is designed to actively encourage and support people to be the best that they can be. Now the programme is basically in existence to help people to get to Director level, that is the main objective, however what we aim to do is to give people the confidence, the skills and the expertise they need to become the very, very best that they could possibly be, and sometimes that might mean becoming an Executive Director and sometimes that might mean becoming a Director or another Service Manager in the Health Service, but what we aim to do is to give people the absolute confidence in their own abilities in who they are and what they bring to the Health Services.
What kind of individuals are you looking for to join the Scheme?
The kinds of people we are looking for, for the breaking through Top Talent Programme are can-do individuals, individuals who have a belief in themselves that they can make a difference within the Health Services, people who are good at communicating, who are good at networking, who are good at talking to people, but most of all people who are absolutely passionate about improving patient care in the NHS.
We are looking for people like you, who want to make a difference to patients but also make a difference to yourself, to learn about who you are and how you come across, and to make absolutely the best use of all of those skills, so think about it and do apply.
When is the Breaking Through Conference?
Our application process has been open for a month now, and we would like many, many, many more people to apply, so why don’t you think about applying, it is September, we are open for another month or so, so do think about applying, and in addition to that, really exciting is the fact that the breaking through conference will be on the 23rd October at the Novotel in London and we will be celebrating Black History Month as part of our Conference, so why don’t you log onto the website and apply to come to the Breakthrough Conference, as well as applying to be part of our Top Talent Programme.
What can I expect from the development stages which take place in Novemeber?
The development centre and I think all development centres are designed to help support people and help people in terms of their learning, don’t let it put you off the word development centre or assessment centre which can be scary for some people, but our development centres are designed specifically to give people positive feedback about themselves and invariably people say that the development centre is an excellent part of the process which they thoroughly enjoy, so what I would say to you if you are anxious about it is, feel the fear but do it anyway.
What challenges will I face?
So, what are the challenges for the breaking through programme? Well I think there are quite a few challenges. I think first and foremost we have to make sure that people understand what we are in business to do, they have to understand what the importance of the breaking through programme is and why the NHS is investing heavily in ensuring that we have a diverse workforce at all levels. I think that Breaking Though needs the NHS to buy into it and to understand that we can make a real difference to the patients and to the populations in our country.
For the individual I think that there are lots of challenges as well, there’s the challenge of actually getting through the process and getting into the programme, but there is also the challenge of being placed in a new organisation, what that’s going to mean, functioning and performing at a higher level, people will be looking at you and to you as a member of the Top Talent Programme and making judgements about you not only as a black minority ethnic member of staff but as a participant of the Breaking Through Programme, so my feeling is that there are lots and lots of challenges not only for the programme but for the individual, which is why we are looking for the right individuals to take on that challenge and my belief is that there are many of you out there that could take on that challenge and take on that challenge exceptionally well.