A Nurse Manager has taken it upon herself to hit the streets of Northamptonshire in a bid to boost Healthcare Assistant (HCA) recruitment.

Shalane Joseph-Phillips, who is based on Oak ward in Fitzroy House, teamed up with fellow Nurse Manager Tyler Felton for Church and Clinical Nurse Leader Abbie Zipfel for Sycamore, to launch a recruitment roadshow.

The idea behind it was to try and encourage members of the public to come and work on the female Learning Disability wards at St Andrew’s Healthcare, Northampton.

Shalane said: “Working at St Andrew’s can be really rewarding. I mean, I’ve been here for 13 years and I’m still here! People from all walks of life come here and love it. A lot of people wrongly assume you need previous healthcare experience to become an HCA, but that’s not always the case. In the past we’ve welcomed former chefs and tree surgeons who have turned to mental health services and not looked back.”

Shalane is kicking off the roadshow at Corby Town Shopping and Willow Place where she will be accompanied by Tyler Felton and xxx. They will be armed with recruitment information, job adverts and chocolate.

Their next stop will be the Weston Favell Shopping Centre on Wednesday, October 13. 

Shalane added: “The chocolate is for good old fashioned bribery I suppose, to help entice people to come and talk to us. But seriously, we’re looking for people who might be considering a new career path.

“HCAs play a vital part in improving our patients’ quality of life, by giving them hope and supporting them to progress. In addition, St Andrew’s provides training and education, so should you wish to progress, you can train to become a nurse too. There are so many opportunities, I would highly recommend coming along to find out more.”