NHS Scotland is one of the country’s largest employers and a key anchor institution. Anchor institutions have significant potential to drive social and economic change. Through improvements to recruitment practices and parental employability pathways, the NHS can help build community wealth and improve outcomes for families at risk of poverty. These pathways aim to support parents into NHS roles, increasing household income and reducing child poverty.  
 
However, the full impact of these approaches and the opportunities to scale and strengthen them are not yet fully understood. This internship offers the chance to contribute to research that examines how NHS recruitment practices and employability pathways influence child poverty and economic inclusion, and how they align with wider government priorities such as community wealth building.  
 
You will work within a small, multi-disciplinary team alongside policy officials and public health experts. The internship will involve:  
 
- Conducting a literature  reviews to examine existing evidence.  
 
- Using a mixed methods approach, including qualitative interviews, to gather insights from stakeholders.  
 
- Supporting the evaluation of initiatives, such as parental employability pathways or improvements to recruitment practices.  
 
- Analysing barriers and enablers to fair work opportunities and identifying areas for improvement.  
 
Your findings will help inform future workforce strategies and policy development, supporting NHS Boards to deliver fair work opportunities and tackle child poverty. This is an excellent opportunity to gain experience in policy research and collaborative working in a national context.