Health shock

UNITED KINGDOM (UK) health services provider Cambridge University Hospitals has been seeking to recruit registered nurses and midwives for full-time, qualified nursing positions in all clinical areas across the hospital, with a fresh push made in Caribbean islands in the first quarter of 2023.

Recruiting agency Cpl Healthcare, in partnership with Cambridge University Hospitals and the NHS Trust, based in the Southeast of England, held interviews in Kingston, Jamaica, on January 28-29 and Port of Spain in Trinidad on January 30-31, 2023.

The endeavour is an acceleration of recruitment efforts.

Data obtained from the Nursing Council of Jamaica by the auditor general indicated overseas recruiters requested the verification of licences from the Nurses Association of Jamaica for 4,259 nurses in both the private and public sectors between April 2016 and November 2021. It was noted that the number of licences suggests that nurses are seeking employment overseas.

In the recent job site notice, the healthcare recruiters offered: “Refer a nurse to us, if they are offered and accept a job with Cambridge Hospital when they receive their NMC we will transfer £250 to you.”

The NMC (Nursing and Midwifery Council) is the body responsible for certifying nurses and is the largest healthcare regulator in the UK.

Recruitment has also been initiated by Conexus MedStaff Ltd, which, in advertisements on Caribbeanjobs.com, says it is seeking new hires from Kingston and St Andrew, Georgetown, Guyana, and a category named ‘international’.

Local authorities indicate that investment in the health sector continues apace, but Jamaican nurses might find it hard to resist the offer of better pay.

On the weekend of March 25, Minister of Health and Wellness Dr Christopher Tufton told Wednesday Business that he did not expect local nurses to resist the temptation when offered high-paying posts in other countries, but he said that under his portfolio, efforts would continue to be made to retain and incentivise health workers to remain in their home country.

FLEXI CONTRACTS

The minister of health stated: “There is an overarching plan, but it does not stop the reality that the global shortage will see significantly fair sums being offered, bonds being paid off and sums being given. Ultimately, we will have to look at things like flexi contracts, to ensure that both jurisdictions will benefit from that collaboration, to give the nurse the opportunity to work both here and in other markets. Those are new approaches which are being discussed.”

Even though local nursing staff have been indicated by the Ministry of Health and Wellness to be in inadequate supply for the local health services, other countries with deeper pockets than the Government of Jamaica continue to attempt to secure staff trained in the region, including the United States (US) and the UK.

In 2022, Tufton estimated the shortage of specialist nurses in the island at about 1,000.

Shortages in the field are an international challenge. In April 2022, US-based researcher Dr David Auerbach and colleagues published a nursing workforce analysis in Health Affairs, which found that total supply of registered nurses decreased by more than 100,000 from 2020 to 2021 – the largest drop ever observed over the past four decades.

A significant number of nurses leaving the workforce were under the age of 35, and most were employed in hospitals.

The UK recruiter said that nurses are needed for clinical areas, including medical and surgical wards, the emergency department, theatres, intensive care unit, haematology/oncology, paediatrics and radiology departments.

The recruiter stated: “Cambridge University Hospitals is one of the largest and best-known trusts in the UK. They deliver care through Addenbrooke’s and the Rosie hospitals. As well as delivering care through Addenbrooke’s and the Rosie, it is also a leading national centre for specialist treatment for rare or complex conditions, a government-designated biomedical research centre, one of only five academic health science centres in the UK, a university teaching hospital with a worldwide reputation, and a partner in the development of the Cambridge Biomedical Campus.”

RECOGNISED NURSING QUALIFICATION

It is noted that applicants must have recognised nursing qualification, current or recent experience working on a medical/surgical ward, current or recent experience working in a 150-plus bedded hospital, a minimum of nine months postgraduate nursing experience, and they must pass English language speaking and writing tests.

The agency said that applicants must be “one hundred per cent committed to relocating to the United Kingdom”.

The recruiter said that it will offer to successful applicants an airline ticket from their country of origin, and that a return flight will be supplied upon request if the applicant’s visa is terminated within three years of commencement of employment.

Relocation benefits also include one month’s paid hospital accommodation, with the option of staying at the accommodation for a further five months (six months in total); visa costs; reimbursement of the NMC registration and examination cost; reimbursement for one attempt at the Objective Structured Clinical Examination, which costs £992; and financial support in the form of one month’s rent for onsite accommodation up to the maximum value of £500, or a contribution to your first month’s rent to the value of £500.

The promise is made that the welcome package includes items such as bedding and cutlery. The recruiter also promises payment for the International English Language Test exam of £200, or Occupational English Test, which costs £349.

Benefits for the applicant and family also include free hospital/GP visits with the NHS, and free prescriptions for persons under 16-year-old and those over 60-year-old.

Wednesday Business reached out to the Cambridge recruiting contacts and Cpl Healthcare to get an update on responses in the local market, but no reply was received up to press time.

MASS MIGRATION

Tufton commented: “We have long been talking about the mass migration of our nurses to the US and in more recent times the UK. It’s something we have taken to those particular countries to see where we can collaborate around training. We are limited in training because of limited rotation space, and also faculty. Those are the areas we have been trying to expand on, both in terms of building out more infrastructure and also upgrading hospitals.

“We have also done work on establishing more permanent posts, because security of tenure is a big issue,” the minister added. “We have established 1,500 additional posts to ensure that nurses who were once on contract become permanent, and of course, the compensation review would have addressed the salary scale.

“We are addressing through working conditions, clinical space and salary scales, but also through collaboration on training. I did a tour in the US, and we are now discussing with a few [institutions] the possibility of MOUs for training our nurses here. And some of our nurses will go to those health systems, and some of our nurses will also train in those institutions.

Also in the first quarter of 2023, Conexus Med Staff Ltd, the recruiter, in its Caribbeanjobs notice, described itself as specialising in recruiting, training, and placing international registered nurses looking for US immigration sponsorship.

Tufton said: “Around working conditions, clinical space and salary scale, I think we have been doing a lot to stave off the temptation, even though it is a lot.”

avia.collinder@gleanerjm.com