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Bupa North West leads the way in return to work scheme
20 October 2006
Bupa Hospitals is leading the way among companies in the North West in helping long-term claimants of incapacity benefit get back to work. The business has recruited five incapacity benefit claimants through the Go Forward scheme, a Government-backed initiative aimed at getting the long-term unemployed back into work.
The new recruits will work as hospital service advisers at Bupa Hospitals’ new customer contact centre in Salford Quays, which handles calls from patients accessing the business’s services.
Chris Parkinson, recruitment and people development manager at Bupa Hospitals, said, “These are people with a lot to offer. They’re enthusiastic about returning to the job market after a period of being unable to work, for reasons such as physical disability or having to care for a relative. One recruit, on being told she had got a job, screamed with delight down the phone and that sums up the terrific reaction we have had.”
Bupa Hospitals went into partnership in the initiative with the Greater Manchester Employer Coalition, an independent government advisory body that works closely with Jobcentre Plus, an agency supporting people from welfare into employment. The business helped to design a training course for the scheme, covering basic skills jobseekers need and sessions to boost confidence. It worked closely with CG Resources, a company providing the training, to tailor the course to the requirements of working in a contact centre, such as call handling techniques.
“Each recruit has got a lot of life experience and the ability to empathise with our patients as they themselves or a relative in their care may well have had to undergo a lot of hospital treatment,” continued Parkinson.
One recruit said: “To be given the chance to work again is great but to be given the chance to work for a company like Bupa is fantastic.”
Emmi Wainwright, strategic liaison co-ordinator, Greater Manchester Employer Coalition, said: “BUPA’s forward-thinking employment practices will enable these people to enjoy the benefits of working for an organisation that promotes on ability and encourages progression. From the coalition’s perspective, working with Bupa Hospitals has been invaluable and crucial to the success of the project.”
Anthony Lengden, business development manager, CG Resources, said, “Claimants of incapacity benefit are a priority group for the Government. Around 2.7 million people claim this benefit and over 80 percent would like to return to work if they could access the right support and training. The opportunity for these people to meet with a large employer with Bupa’s reputation was key to the pilot’s success.”
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