Artistic skills led Amy to a new career in the NHS

AN ARTIST who moved from a Chester hospital volunteering role into a frontline healthcare career is backing a proven scheme that helped realise her dream and could be key to easing NHS workforce pressures.

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Amy Edisbury-Williams never imagined her skills as an artist could lead to a career in the NHS after her degree in Fine Arts left her unsure of her next steps.

But thanks to the Volunteer to Career programme she now combines an NHS job helping patients cope with dementia and Parkinsons disease with a Masters degree in Art Therapy.

The initiative, piloted by national charity Helpforce, is designed to harness the power of volunteering in tackling persistent recruitment issues across health services.

It gives people who are interested in healthcare careers but don't have a background in the field a chance to gain valuable experience and build confidence before applying for paid roles or training.

To date, 48 different NHS organisations across England, including Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, have taken part in Volunteer to Career - enabling individuals from all walks of life to secure permanent jobs including healthcare assistants, mental health support workers and assistant physiotherapists.