Lived Experience Leadership Pathway
“How to Guide”
It is widely acknowledged that people with convictions face significant challenges when re-entering the workforce. Despite over 11 million people in the UK having a criminal record, they often find themselves excluded entirely from certain roles, particularly in management and leadership. Discrimination, DBS checks and complicated application processes coupled with an exclusionary job market create a concrete ceiling which can be almost impossible to break through.
Despite facing an acute labour shortage, the NHS is still reluctant to recruit people with convictions into many of their more than 350 different roles. Additionally, the NHS is a daunting environment for applicants attempting to enter the workforce. Application processes are highly complicated and laden with organisational jargon which can cause people with convictions to fail even before they have begun. For those that do manage to successfully navigate the application process and gain a job, they often find that they reach a certain point in their career development and are unable to move forward to management and leadership positions because there is a lack of clear routes or progression opportunities. The stigma attached to convictions and a lack of formal qualifications can also act as barriers here too.
To that end, Breaking Barriers Innovations was commissioned by NHS England’s Health and Justice team to develop a non-clinical, competency-based career pathway, designed to support career progression and personal development for people with lived experience of the criminal justice system.
Supported by evidence gathered from people with lived experience e.g. Revolving Doors’ Lived Experience Team, NHS Trusts and an in-depth literature review, a flexible pathway has been developed which incorporates key points of intervention for support, guidance and mitigation of barriers at an employee, employer and system level. To illustrate the pathway, BBI created a “How To” guide to explain its components and also to highlight case studies of how the pathway could be implemented across different sectors within the NHS.
Contact: Jacqui Gibson jacqui.gibson@bbi.uk.com
Jacqui Gibson is a Programme Manager at Breaking Barriers Innovations and has worked on various projects including Hammersmith and Fulham Council’s Mental Health Campaign Service Evaluation and the creation of new “More and Different” career pathways for sites across England
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