In the letter, Ms May also announced funding of £1.7m for regional nursing teams to recruit more HCSWs. This programme supports international nurses while they take their objective structured clinical examinations (OSCE). These efforts would be supported by a national HCSW recruitment campaign, as well as tailored support for trusts with the highest vacancy rates, said Ms May. Reproduction and distribution of these materials is prohibited without the expressed written authorization of AMN Healthcare, Inc. © 2017 AMN Healthcare, Inc. All rights reserved. “There is a real opportunity to accelerate the recruitment and arrival of international nurses”. Funding worth £28m is being made available in England to quickly “accelerate” the recruitment of nurses from overseas, following a period of inactivity due to the coronavirus pandemic. She also highlighted the need to continue to utilise those nurses on the NMC’s temporary register to manage the ongoing pandemic and to support the return of non-Covid-19 services. Nurses who are most-highly sought-after include those with specialist skills in emergency departments or operating rooms, and those who wish to work in a remote or isolated indigenous communities. The money is also intended to help trusts “develop a new pipeline of overseas nurses and diversify the intake of nurses from a range of countries”. She told Nursing Times it was “imperative” that the commitments made in the 2020-21 NHS People Plan to recruit ethically from overseas were “delivered and independently assessed”. ‘Congratulations to our 2020 Nursing Times Awards winners’, 22 September, 2020 The outbreak of Covid-19 had led to the majority of international nurse recruitment activity being paused. All international nurses must have an OSCE in order to register with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) and work in the UK. In the letter, Ms May (pictured above) said these “markets” were now beginning to reopen, with some nurses having travelled from abroad to the UK to join the NHS in recent weeks. Half of the money is dedicated to supporting the arrival to the country of nurses who have already been appointed from abroad. Start the next phase of your rewarding international nursing career, by clicking the link below. The other half is to fund a “significant expansion” of future overseas nurse recruitment for the remainder of 2020-21. We will help you: O’Grady Peyton International is ready to take every step with you through the international nursing process so you and your family can get to the United States and you can start achieving your career goals. Those who wanted to stay on the register permanently should be supported to do so, added Ms May. Nursing Times has produced a series of videos on infection control and…, Please remember that the submission of any material is governed by our, EMAP Publishing Limited Company number 7880758 (England & Wales) Registered address: 7th Floor, Vantage London, Great West Road, Brentford, United Kingdom, TW8 9AG, We use cookies to personalize and improve your experience on our site. Dedicated to a Common Goal However, she warned: “This is about recognising that international recruitment must not come at the expense of low- and middle-income countries that can at any time, not just when we are all facing a pandemic, ill afford to lose health workers. “Any strategy for short-term international recruitment must be aligned with a strategy for longer term growth in the domestic nursing workforce. Together with our nurses, we have created a truly “global nursing community” that stretches far beyond our country’s borders. Rebecca Smith, managing director of NHS Employers, welcomed the additional support laid out in the letter from Ms May. coupled with a comprehensive IELTS English Language programme My Healthcare Recruit uses video CVs and video interviewing to give you a hiring advantage when recruiting international permanent nurses. “We would also stress that we take ethical international recruitment extremely seriously and we will continue to work with employers and agencies to support them to adhere to guidelines in this area.”, “This is about recognising that international recruitment must not come at the expense of low- and middle-income countries". Find some great talent today. She said empty HCSW posts needed to be significantly reduced or, where possible, completely filled ahead of the winter. “This will aid the infrastructure for employers to recruit internationally, which continues to be vital, along with the recent funding for apprenticeships to grow our domestic pipeline, which will take longer to come to fruition," she told Nursing Times. “However, we should not be over-reliant on international nursing staff as this is not sustainable,” she said. While Ms May flagged the need to follow ethical recruitment practices, concerns have still be raised about the implications of raiding other countries for nurses at the time of a global pandemic. Sign in or Register a new account to join the discussion. Reproduction and distribution of these materials is prohibited without the expressed written authorization of AMN Healthcare, Inc. 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International recruitment Recruitment from outside of the UK has made a valuable contribution in the NHS over the years and forms an important part of the workforce supply strategy of NHS organisations. © 2017 AMN Healthcare, Inc. All rights reserved. Trusts are being encouraged to take a collaborative approach by partnering up with neighbour organisations and working “at scale to recruit, induct and provide pastoral support”.