Although independent, the NHS Race and Health Observatory is hosted by NHS Confederation. The NHS Confederation is committed to promoting a diverse and inclusive environment for our staff. A place where we can all be ourselves and succeed on merit. We offer a range of inclusive employment policies including family friendly policies and flexible working and we have range of channels to support staff from different backgrounds including our staff networks and a staff forum.
Internships and Placements
At the NHS Race and Health Observatory, we periodically host individuals through placements, internships, or similar arrangements. This includes people seeking clinical or academic elective placements, internships and work experience, or placements as part of a graduate schemes. These experiences can be mutually enriching, allowing individuals to gain experience working in race equity, while allowing the Observatory to engage with different opinions and increase its diversity of thought.
Because of the breadth of work we do, and the complexity of the sector, we operate an open expression of interest approach.
Two to three times a year, we will publish areas of priority for the Observatory and invite individuals to apply with their area of interest. These applications will be reviewed on a roughly quarterly basis. We accept applications for placements of up to six months.
We encourage expressions of interest from people who are committed to tackling race inequity, and especially those at the early stages of, or seeking to change, careers. We also encourage Black, Asian, and minoritised ethnic applicants to apply, especially those with lived experience of the inequity we were established to tackle. At present, we can only host placements here people have the right to live and work in the United Kingdom.
We are a multidisciplinary organisation, and invite applications from people working across the following areas:
- Research
- Implementation
- Policy and public relations
- Co-design and co-production with communities
- Communications and social media
- Clinical and healthcare professions
Our current areas of focus include race equity in:
- Mental Health
- Maternal and Neonatal Health
- Community Participation
- Genomics and Precision Medicine
- Sickle Cell Disease
- The NHS Workforce
- Innovation and Technology
Because of the number of expressions of interest we receive, we will only review these applications at fixed points in the year, with the next review scheduled for September 2025. To ensure equity and transparency, we commit to always reviewing expressions of interest based on the following criteria:
- Is the person committed to advancing race equity?
- Does their area of interest or background align with our published priorities?
- Does the placement advance our commitment to build capacity among racially minoritised communities?
- Does the Observatory have sufficient capacity to support the applicant/project?
All placements will be paid opportunities and will always be above the living wage.
We will always try to accommodate placement requests where we can, but we can’t make specific commitments to either numbers or length of placements. We continue to review and refine this process and thank you for your interest.
To express your interest in a placement or internship, please use this application form: https://forms.office.com/e/WA0RCVBSwR
If you are having issues with this form, or have additional accessibility requirements, please email us at [email protected]