The Skills Development Network Apprenticeship Programme recruits individuals across the NW of England in order to support talent development in areas of the NHS such as Accountancy, Information Management, IT, Procurement and Software Development.

Since the programme commenced in 2015 there have been 140 individuals recruited with in excess of 200 enrolments on various apprenticeships across a wide range of NHS and healthcare organisations such as acute trusts (hospitals), clinical commissioning groups (CCG), mental health trusts and shared services.

The programme has been highly successful to date with a learner retention rate of 83% (higher than the national average) with 95% of those retained achieving successfully and the vast majority being retained in the NHS in either a permanent position or a higher level apprenticeship on completion.