The Collaborative Targeted Outreach Programme (CTOP): a feasibility intervention to increase the recruitment of ‘home grown’ South Asians onto nursing and midwifery courses

Abstract

Background: UK ‘home grown’ (born and/or socialised in Britain) South Asians (Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and Indians) are underrepresented in the NHS nursing and the allied health workforce but there is a dearth of evidence on documented interventions specifically designed for targeted widening participation activity for South Asians. Despite a range of inclusive outreach activities taking place at the University of Bedfordshire (UoB) which has its main campus in Luton, a culturally diverse town located in the South East of England, South Asian prospective students are underrepresented in applications and attendance at the nursing and midwifery summer school. This paper presents the details of the design, delivery and evaluation of the Collaborated Targeted Outreach Programme (CTOP) which is a feasibility intervention aimed at improving the knowledge, perceptions and status of nursing and midwifery among the South Asian community in Luton and increasing numbers of ‘home grown’ South Asian students on nursing and midwifery courses at the UoB. Methods: The CTOP intervention encompassed a young people’s and community outreach event. The outreach events included break-out discussion workshops designed to de-mystify nursing and midwifery, a debate and a multilingual theatre performance of the barriers and enablers to choosing nursing and midwifery as a course or career option and career journey’ presentations from peer mentors and role models. The outreach events were evaluated. Results: The design and delivery of the CTOP intervention was effective in meeting the aim of improving the knowledge, perceptions and status of nursing and midwifery among the CTOP participants. All participants had positive views about attending the CTOP outreach events and reported it was a good experience. Conclusion: The CTOP intervention has demonstrated that there are feasible culturally competent approaches that could be adopted to widening participation in the NHS workforce via the UK’s ‘home grown’ diverse population. In fact, there is no reason not to consider the CTOP approach for other workforce areas within the public sector. What is clear is that CTOP is underpinned by genuine community engagement and empowerment, which requires dedicated skills, time and resources to ensure that diversity and inclusion in the NHS workforce becomes more of a reality rather than rhetoric.