NTW Solutions has been supporting people back into the world of work by providing placements for those accessing services provided by Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust (CNTW). NTW Solutions provides a range of services to CNTW and placements have been offered within areas such as the café and portering team at Northgate Hospital in Morpeth.

The project is led by clinical teams within CNTW and the placements are considered therapeutic and has contributed to people’s recovery. The placements are overseen by clinicians working with service users and it brings clinical work into a non-clinical environment which makes the closeness of the partnership essential.

Working with clinical teams within CNTW the teams at NTW Solutions have undertaken a huge amount of work to make the placements possible, including arranging food hygiene training for those working in the café. Service users have been mentored by the teams involved and have been able to experience a range of roles across different teams.

The placements benefit the service users and the clinical teams as those involved build their confidence and experience and CNTW is looking to expand this work to other sites so that others can benefit.

Deborah Blackburn, Catering Supervisor at Café Andrew said, “This is really helping them move on to a better future. I love the fact they are happy here, they make an invaluable contribution and they have just slotted in with my team”

One service user said, ”I love my job with the Porters, and it helps me feel good about myself. I’d like to be a full-time Porter!” Another at Café Andrew said, “I absolutely love it to bits, it give me something to aim for in the future and also helps me put a CV together.”