How to write an NHS supporting statement

Most NHS vacancies are applied for through an application form on NHS Jobs rather than with a CV. The form collects your employment history, qualifications and references, then gives you a free-text section, usually headed "supporting information". That section is your supporting statement, and it carries more weight than anything else you write.

It matters because of how NHS shortlisting works. A panel takes the person specification for the role and checks each application against it, criterion by criterion, and your statement is where they look for the evidence. A strong candidate who writes a general covering letter can lose out to a less experienced one who answered every criterion, simply because the evidence was not where the panel looked.

• Read the job description to understand the role, and the person specification to understand how you will be judged.
• Check whether the advert lets you attach a CV. Many NHS applications do not, so the statement has to make your case on its own.

The person specification lists the criteria for the role, usually grouped under headings such as qualifications, experience, skills and knowledge, and marked as essential or desirable. Many also say how each one is assessed: on the application form, at interview, or through a test. The criteria assessed on the application form are the ones your statement must cover.

The surest way to miss nothing is to follow the specification's own order. Shortlisters are working down that list, so a statement that follows it is easy to score. Some people use the criteria as short headings; others write paragraphs that take each in turn. Either works, as long as every essential criterion is clearly answered.

1. Copy the essential criteria into a document and write your evidence under each one.
2. Add the desirable criteria you can evidence. They often separate candidates who meet all the essentials.
3. Use the specification's own wording, so the panel can see the match without having to interpret it.
4. Keep qualifications brief if the form records them elsewhere, and spend your words on experience and skills.

Saying you are "an excellent communicator with strong organisational skills" gives the panel nothing to score. Showing it does. For each criterion, give a short, specific example from your experience: the situation you were in, what you did, and what came of it. Some guidance calls this the STAR method, adding a task step. Either way, keep the weight on your own action and finish on the result.

Write in the first person and be precise about your part. "I" is right here, because the panel needs to know what you did rather than what your team did. Experience from outside healthcare counts when it shows the same thing. Calming distressed customers is real evidence for a patient-facing role, and running a busy rota in hospitality is real evidence of organisation under pressure.

• One clear example per criterion beats several vague ones.
• Show the result: what changed for patients, colleagues or the service.
• Use plain language, and avoid acronyms the person specification does not use.
• Never claim experience or a qualification you do not have. The panel may ask about any line at interview, and pre-employment checks follow an offer.

NHS employers recruit for values as well as skills, and many say so in the advert. In England, the NHS Constitution sets out six values that trusts build on:

• Working together for patients
• Respect and dignity
• Commitment to quality of care
• Compassion
• Improving lives
• Everyone counts

Many trusts publish values of their own, usually in the job pack or on their careers pages, and health services in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland set out their own too. Read the ones attached to the role you are applying for. You do not need a separate section listing them. Let your examples show them: the time you protected a patient's dignity, or worked across teams to fix a problem, says more than naming the value.

The supporting information box has a length limit, and it is not the same everywhere, so check it on the form before you start. Draft your statement in a document first, so you can edit it properly and lose nothing if the form misbehaves, then paste it in. Keep a copy. If you are invited to interview, the panel will have your statement in front of them and may ask about any part of it.

NHS adverts often say the vacancy may close early if it receives a high number of applications. Treat the closing date as the latest you could apply, not the target.

• Write a new statement for each role. Two roles with the same title can have quite different person specifications.
• Proofread it, ideally aloud or with someone else reading. Errors stand out more in a statement than in a list.
• Make sure the employment history on the form matches what your statement describes.