FOUR highly skilled and qualified nurses from the Lebanon have joined the team at Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, thanks to the NHS Refugee Support Programme.
The NHS Refugee Nurse Support Pilot Programme, which supports refugees who are qualified as nurses in their home country to resume their nursing careers in the NHS in England, is celebrating a fourth cohort of nurses starting work in organisations across the North West, including Warrington.
Refugee nurses have arrived at trusts across the country including three in the North West, as part of the latest intake from the programme delivered by NHS England and NHS Improvement in partnership with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), RefuAid, Reset and Talent Beyond Boundaries (TBB).
In the North West refugee nurses from this most recent cohort have taken up positions at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS FT, Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS FT and Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS FT.
Steven Colfar, Director of Nursing and AHP Workforce for the North West at NHS England and NHS Improvement, and lead for the programme, said: “The refugee support programme is a crucial element in our approach to ethical recruitment.
“It was originally designed and planned to be delivered for the North West region alone. However due to its success it is now an England wide programme with further interest from the devolved countries of the UK.
“The NHS is supported by recruiting some exceptionally skilled nurses who use their own lived experiences to deliver compassionate patient care. In turn we have the privilege to support them not just with a new job, but an opportunity for a new life.”
Kimberley Salmon-Jamieson, Chief Nurse and Deputy Chief Executive at Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “It’s an honour to welcome four highly skilled and qualified nurses from Lebanon to Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals.
“These are our first Middle Eastern nurses currently undergoing two weeks’ induction before being deployed onto our wards where their skills and experience in ICU, medical, respiratory and surgical oncology will be of immediate and valued use.
“Following their OSCE examinations in around six months’ time they will take their places as fully qualified nurses.”
Israa, a 26-year-old, Palestinian born and raised in Lebanon, and joining Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS FT said: “When I heard about going to work in UK I thought it was a bit scary as it’s a big step in my life, but then I thought how grateful I would be to work in such a country as it will open lots of good opportunities for me and help me improve my knowledge.”
Mustafa, a 22-year-old, Palestinian born and raises in Lebanon, and joining Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS FT said: “I got the opportunity to travel to UK to work as a nurse and it was like a dream come true.
“Now I am here I am trying to adapt to a whole new culture but it’s worth it because we can improve our lives and have the chance to continue to build our dreams.”
The first two cohorts of the pilot programme supported refugee nurses already living in the UK, funded by NHS England and NHS Improvement, but has since been extended to also support refugee nurses currently living overseas who want to come to the UK to rebuild their lives and work for the NHS with the ultimate aim of becoming nurses in the NHS in England.
The first cohort of nurses from outside the UK (cohort three) arrived in September 2021, funded by DHSC, and this has led to NHS England and NHS Improvement funding further ‘out of country’ cohorts.
The programme offers intensive languages skills support and a bespoke four-week course designed by LJMU to help participants prepare to return to nursing and work in the NHS. Participants are supported to secure NHS employment, initially in healthcare support worker roles, which they take up following the course and while they complete the necessary English Language assessments and NMC processes with the aim to become registered nurses in England.
Pictured From left to right – Hiba, Israa, Mostarta and Mohammed – Four new nurses joining Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS FT
