HR Resourcing
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NHS Forth Valley - International Recruitment
NHS Forth Valley Cohort 1 arriving at Edinburgh Airport.
On 5th October 2021, the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care announced a range of measures and new investments as part of winter planning, including increasing the use of international recruitment to alleviate pressures and fill key roles. The initial target for NHS Scotland was to recruit 200 registered nurses from overseas by March 2022. The Health Workforce Directorate agreed to provide £4.5 million of non-recurring funding in 2021/22. NHS Forth Valley’s allocated share to support direct recruitment costs, temporary accommodation and other reasonable out of pocket expenses amounted to £188,253.
To create capacity within Boards to take forward the additional tasks related to recruiting and employing overseas staff, a budget of £67,500 of recurring funding was allocated to NHS Forth Valley to recruit to an International Recruitment Lead post. Following an internal advert at the end of 2021, Lisa Fairweather was appointed and started in post at the end of February 2022.
NHS Forth Valley developed a partnership with NHS Professionals (NHSP), who are owned by the Department of Health and Social Care in England. One of NHSPs functions is to support NHS organisations in the UK and international candidates through the recruitment process. In early 2022, through this partnership, 13 nurses were recruited from India and Zimbabwe to relocate and begin working within NHS Forth Valley.
This recruitment was carried out ethically in line with the Scottish Code of Practice for the International Recruitment of Health and Social Care Personnel which ensures NHS Forth Valley does not recruit from countries with their own qualified health care staffing shortages
To support the delivery and development of international recruitment within NHS Scotland, the Centre for Workforce Supply (CWS) was created within NHS Education for Scotland. A full programme of international recruitment training was provided to all International Recruitment Leads in NHS Scotland, organised by CWS during March 2022. This learning was used to inform the decision making around NHS Forth Valley’s international recruitment approach along with the NHS Employers International Recruitment Toolkit.
Due to UK Visa and Immigration suspending priority visa services, in response to the situation in Ukraine, there was a delay in the issuing of visas to the 13 nurses and therefore the nurses were split into 2 cohorts depending on their visa issue dates.
The first cohort of 6 nurses, all from India, arrived in Scotland on 8th April 2022. The second cohort of 7 nurses arrived from India and Zimbabwe between 10th May 2022 and 30th May 2022. As part of the nationally agreed relocation package, NHS Forth Valley worked with Stirling University to provide suitable off campus student accommodation for the first 3 months following the nurses arrival.
Following their arrival, they were supported with settling into their accommodation and their new local area, using public transport and local shops. They participated in an induction programme at Forth Valley Royal Hospital which included tours of the hospital, visits to their allocated wards and sessions with speakers from nursing, Spiritual Care, IT and the Royal College of Nursing. Partnerships have also been developed with external organisations such as Friends of Scottish Settlers (FOSS), who support new arrivals to the area, and the British Indian Nurses Association (BINA), who provide pastoral support to Indian nurses arriving in the UK as well as post NMC registration support during their career development. Both FOSS and BINA presented to the new nurses during their induction programme.
The 13 nurses then attended a 3 week Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) preparation training programme, provided by NHSP in Milton Keynes, to prepare them to take their OSCE. The 13 nurse took their OSCE between 25th May 2022 and 8th August 2022 at either Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust or Northumbria University in Newcastle. All 13 nurses passed their OSCE, 5 on the 1st attempt and 8 on the 2nd attempt. Following their OSCE passes, they completed their NMC registration requirements and became band 5 Staff Nurses.
The nurses were provided with ongoing pastoral support as they settle into the local area, secured longer term accommodation and begin the process of bringing spouses and children across from India to live with them.
Employment information has been provided to nurses who have spouses arriving into the local area and looking for work themselves. In collaboration with the Staff Bank, support has also been offered to the spouses who wish their applications to be considered via the Staff Bank.
Overall, the arrival, induction and settling in of our first 2 cohorts of international nurses has been very successful and they have indicated they are very happy with the welcome and support they have received.
One of the main challenges experienced when undertaking this type of recruitment was around accommodation. This included the sourcing of the initial 3 months of accommodation for each nurse in line with their relocation package. Working in partnership with Stirling University, NHS FV provided the nurses with off campus university accommodation in Bridge of Allan. Although the accommodation provided the opportunity for the nurses to create a supportive network with each other, a shorter commute to Forth Valley Royal Hospital and a lower cost accommodation would have been preferable. Alternative options are being explored for the arrival of future cohorts including the use of NHS Forth Valley owned accommodation at Falkirk Community Hospital.
The 13 nurses experienced challenges with securing longer term accommodation in the area for them and their families. This was linked to the availability of properties in the local area and a lack of guarantor. NHS Forth Valley’s International Recruitment Lead linked regularly with local landlords and letting agents in the area to ensure helpful and correct information was being provided to each nurse. Engagement has also taken place throughout this year, both locally and nationally, with the local councils and national bodies to discuss the issues with accommodation. Challenges remain for these organisations with the amount of housing available, with extra demand due to families arriving from Ukraine and the priority criteria councils and housing associations apply when assigning houses.
All 13 nurses secured their own longer term accommodation by sourcing their own guarantor, paying 3-6 months of rent in advance or finding local landlords who understood their situations with no credit history due to being a new arrival to the UK.
The learning taken from each nurse’s experience will be used to inform future intakes of nurses. Work continues on the accommodation challenges through CWS at NES.
Other areas of learning, experienced across Scotland, were some difficulties the nurses had understanding local Scottish accents. Advice and support have been provided locally to our nurses and managers to aid them with this.
It is anticipated the next cohort of nurses will arrive to NHS Forth Valley during January 2023. Research and discussions are also taking place regarding the recruitment of mental health nurses and midwives with details to be finalised regarding required numbers and OSCE training locations and availability of candidates.
In response to recent recruitment challenges with Medical staff within the Emergency Department, recruitment plans are underway to work in partnership with NHS Professionals and recruit middle grade Doctors into our Emergency Department over the coming months. The associated costs of this recruitment will be funded directly by the Emergency Department’s budget.
Plans are also in progress to hold a small event during Autumn 2022 to celebrate the achievements of our 13 nurses. Details of this will be finalised during September 2022.
Michael Brown
Head of HR Resourcing
NHS Forth Valley
