Future Perfect Health CEO Neil Barklem welcomed the NHS England announcement on 25th September that guarantees funding and resources for UK hospitals to support international recruitment of healthcare professionals.
“This package of funding comes at a great time for us, shortly after the launch of our Gamechanger Programme and related English Language and vocational courses for overseas healthcare professionals,” Neil said, “We aim to be working closely in the near future with Health Education England and the Global Learning Partnership to provide the right sort of skills training that overseas professionals will need in order to access these jobs. The package of resources to support more UK Trusts will enable us to ensure that there are no problems in helping overseas keyworkers have more options and better chances of furthering their careers in the UK”.
NHS England and NHS Improvement shared a letter on 25th September with directors of nursing and regional chief nurses, outlining a new package of resources to support international nurse recruitment.
The package includes:
- funding to support the arrival and onboarding of nurses who have already been appointed from overseas, but have not yet reached the UK
- funding to expand future nursing recruitment from overseas. This money is aimed at starting new international recruitment programmes and expanding current programmes in a sustainable and ethical manner. It is intended that between £25,000 and £100,000 will be available per trust for 2020/21, depending on the size of organisation and scale of international recruitment
- support to overseas trained nurses working in the NHS in non-registered nursing roles to pass their Occupational English Test (OET) or International English Language Test (IELTS). This will include funding exams and providing financial support for English language education programmes.
The aim of the funding as a whole is to reduce nursing vacancies across the system and support a sustainable and ethical expansion of international recruitment activity in line with the NHS People Plan.
The letter itself provides detail on how to apply for funding, deadlines and points of contact at NHS England and NHS Improvement.