Blog posts
Workforce gaps and community needs: where the Venn diagram meets
Amongst health anchors, one theme comes up again and again: the desire to find ways to fill vacancies within the NHS workforce, and tackle local unemployment at the same time - recruiting local people into the health and care workforce. In particular, anchor leaders we are working with want to find routes into employment for groups who experience intersecting inequalities, and are most excluded from the labour market.
Social value in Procurement: Learning from East London NHS Foundation Trust
East London NHS Foundation Trust (ELFT) provides mental health, community health and primary care services to a population of nearly 2 million people in East London, Luton and Bedfordshire, serving some of the most deprived communities in the country. Based on research by The Health Foundation into practical ways in which NHS organisations can act as anchor organisations, a key part of ELFT’s Anchor programme is embedding social values into its procurement processes.
Two Years of Learning
The HALN team reflect on the insights generated about the health anchor landscape over the past two years, as HALN moves into its third year.
Behind the scenes at HALN - what have we achieved and what’s next?
The Health Foundation take a look back at two years of the Health Anchors Learning Network, exploring what has been achieved and what needs to happen next
Health Anchors in London and the London Living Wage
The rising cost of living is affecting millions of people across the UK. In recognition of the role the NHS can play in creating ‘good quality work’, NHS anchors in London are increasing their efforts to become London Living Wage employers. This blog outlines the work underway across London as part of Living Wage Week 2022.
Introducing and Implementing Sector Based Work Academy Programmes
Oli Fletcher, HALN member, Learning Set participant of Somerset Integrated Care System and Cody Hyland of Somerset NHS Foundation Trust share their experiences of running Sector Based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs).
Tackling racial inequalities as a health anchor
More than two years after the murder of George Floyd and the subsequent Black Lives Matter movements across the globe, we continue to have important conversations about racial inequality - but how can anchor organisations translate this to meaningful action?
Q&A with Dr Bob Klaber: a blog from the Shelford Group
Dr Bob Klaber, Consultant Paediatrician and Director of Strategy, Research and Innovation at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust (ICHT) talks about the work ICHT has undertaken as an anchor institution.
How can the NHS support the needs of those most excluded from society through its role as an anchor organisation?
The NHS has a unique opportunity to support the most socially excluded people in our society through its service provision and its role as an anchor institution. However more could be done to optimise the impact of its anchor role.
What have we learned from our learning network?
When we first launched the Health Anchors Learning Network (HALN) back in February 2021, we’d been tasked by The Health Foundation and NHS England and NHS Improvement to answer some important questions about anchor work.
Ready, learning set, go! Insights from HALN’s first round of learning sets
HALN is nearly one year old - and over the past 12 months we’ve been bringing together thousands of people from across the UK with responsibility for, or an interest in, anchor work.