Project Search

Project Search is an initiative being piloted at 14 sites across the UK.

Project Search has a very clear goal – to give young people with learning disabilities the skills to gain competitive paid employment.

In Plymouth, the initiative is delivered jointly by Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust, City College Plymouth, Serco and Pluss.

How does it work?
Project Search offers 12 month internships for young people with a learning disability, with a large local employer.
 
In our case the employer is Plymouth Hopitals NHS Trust. Each day the interns work as a full member of staff undertaking tasks in different departments (including orthopaedics, theatres, x ray, radiology, administration and Serco)  supported by a Pluss job coach.

The interns then return to an on-site classroom to assess how their day has gone and learn other communication, problem-solving and job skills. The teaching is provided by qualified tutors from City College Plymouth.

The end goal for each student is to achieve competitive employment either within Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust or elsewhere in the community using the skills they have acquired.

“It makes good business sense for us to bring in a variety of talent and ability into the Trust and we must always look at different ways of doing that. We hope it will help us focus on the way we do things and that the interns will help us to improve our offering to patients”                                           
Paul Roberts, CEO of Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust

Changing the way the world thinks
Project Search could also change the way people think as it will challenge ideas about what people with a learning disability can do. It will raise expectations of employability and the general public will see people with a learning disability hard at work as part of every day life.  

In America, the model has been very successful - 80% of students who completed ‘Project SEARCH in 2007 are now in full-time employment and it runs in over 130 American organisations including the Fifth Third Bank and the Department of Labor.

Only 7% of people with learning disabilities nationally are in any form of paid work, compared with 74% of the wider population. In Plymouth the situation is even  bleaker at 5%. Here’s to having the same success rates here…….Watch this space! 
 

"My work rotation is in X-ray as a patient porter,The job involves taking patients to and from X-ray. Also learning the safety and care of the patients, checking the pumps and tubes are disconnected also the bed plug. I hope after being on the Project Search course to get a paid job in a department of the hospital."

Jevan
Jevan has since been offered a 20 hour post at Derriford!

Project Search - A brief history
Project Search was first developed in Cincinnati Childrens Hospital to support people with learning disabilities into work. In 1996, Erin Riehle, Director of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Emergency Departmen t, was finding it hard to keep people in jobs that involved re-stocking hospital supplies.

At the same time, Cincinnati Children’s hospital had just started a project to get more jobs for disabled people.

Erin wondered if this could solve her problem – could disabled people fill these jobs? Not knowing any disabled people she took her idea to local disability and development agencies.
 
Fourteen years later, the idea has evolved into an international programme - Project Search, which runs at over 150 sites, across 39 states and four countries.

Project Search is set to run again next year. To find out more contact Pluss or contact mark.hodges@pluss.org.uk