Values Based Recruitment: What works, for whom, why, and in what circumstances?

The National Health Service (NHS) employs over a million people, and the vast majority of these staff provide front-line patient care. Failures in care, particularly in Mid Staffordshire NHS Hospital Trust as detailed in the Francis Report in 2014, raised concerns about the values underpinning working practices in the NHS. One policy response to these concerns was to encourage recruitment of undergraduate health professional students, trainees and employees whose personal values are consistent with the overall values of the NHS Constitution: ‘values-based recruitment’ (VBR). This report presents findings from the evaluation of VBR commissioned by the Policy Research Programme. This addressed the question: How have education and service providers implemented VBR approaches and what are the impacts on service delivery and care?