North West
About the region
The North West is a region of contrasts covering the 5 areas of Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Cheshire, Cumbria and Lancashire.
The region stretches from the Scottish border to the Dee Estuary and the Welsh border, and is bounded on the west by the Irish Sea and on the east by the Pennine Hills.
With a population of 6.8 million, the North West region is larger than several EU countries, and generates 11% of the UK’s Gross Domestic Product, despite the decline in traditional manufacturing and engineering industries. Whilst 80% of the area is rural, four fifths of its population live in the urban areas. Approximately 8% of people work in the healthcare sector.
Projects
Currently Skills for Health is involved in:
- Working closely with key partners to identify regional priorities and actions in the context of the over-arching Sector Skills Agreement for England
- Delivering the Joint Investment Framework to meet regional priorities, click here for more information on the JIF initiative and here for information about the JIF in the North West
- The NHS Skills Academy which develops, brokers and co-ordinates the delivery of a range of programmes which prepare people for coming into and continuing to work in the health sector. Click here for more information
- Two ‘demonstration sites’ linked to developments in Higher Education
- Embedding the use of competence-based approaches to planning and development including an extensive programme of hands-on training sessions in the use of electronic application tools
- Working with Skills for Care to:
- Support successful delivery of the new Society, Health and Development Diploma
- Take forward a regional Workforce Partners group to focus on the allignment of strategies and initiatives across health and social care. Click here to view Intergrated Workforce Planning for Health and Social Care: a North West Snapshot (pdf) and here for a copy of the Workforce Development Funding Guide (pdf).
- Working with Skills for Care in developing understanding and capacity within the region to support successful delivery of the new Society, Health and Development Diploma.
Key facts
- 60% of people in the region live in Greater Manchester and Merseyside
- A total of 65 Trusts made up of 24 primary care trusts, 21 acute trusts, 9 mental health trusts and the North West Ambulance Service
- Nearly 3,000 registered charities with activities in health and well being
- Around 220 independent organisations registered with the Healthcare Commission of North West England
- NHS North West is the Strategic Health Authority for the region
- Highest number of healthcare vacancies and highest percentage of skill shortage vacancies by comparison with other English regions.
Labour Market Intelligence
To read the full Labour Market Intelligence report on the region
click here.