In the current environment, many recruiting teams are opting to go international to fill their healthcare vacancies, but why?
#1 – International nurses fill our skills gaps
International nurses offer us a really valuable skill set and a way to fill vacancies
We currently have about 40,000 nursing vacancies in the UK. Due to a combination of reasons including:
- An ageing population
- An ageing workforce
- An increased ratio of nurses required as a result of the Francis report
- The increasing role of nurses – taking on many duties that junior doctors used to do
- Challenges with pay increases
As a result, international nurses offer really valuable skills. Even if we were to train a lot more nurses in the UK and address all the challenges, these changes wouldn’t take effect immediately – it would take years to build the pipeline. Put simply, international nurses offer a really effective way of plugging our skills gaps.
#2 – Significant cost savings
Overseas nurses are significantly cheaper than agency and bank staff. Having a permanent member of staff in place works out approximately £50,000 cheaper annually than an agency locum nurse, and £25,000 cheaper annually than a bank nurse.
Even with the upfront costs of international recruitment including visa and relocation costs, an international nurse becomes cheaper than an agency nurse after only 12 weeks, and cheaper than a bank nurse after 24 weeks.
The added bonus is that they provide a greater consistency of care during this time than temporary staff who don’t necessarily know the patients or the department as well.
#3 – High retention rates
Nurses from outside the European Economic Area typically have high retention rates and we know that retention of nurses in the UK healthcare sector is a challenge for employers – early retirement and nurses leaving the sector is exacerbating some of the staffing challenges.
But when nurses come into the country on Tier 2 visas they are typically nurses sponsored for 3 – 5 years and it is highly unusual for a nurse to change employers during this time because they may be liable to pay back some of their relocation costs and they would need to apply for a new visa.
Also, generally speaking, many nurses coming from outside of the European Union Economic Area are coming here to make a life for themselves – they want to build a career with a new employer and are likely to be loyal as long as they are treated well.
My Healthcare Recruit supports UK healthcare employers in the public, private, and care sector to find international nurses who are a great fit for their organisation, by using market-leading video interviewing tools to connect them to our database of qualified candidates. Our innovative approach makes international candidates easier to find and more cost-effective to source than ever before. Find out more at www.myhealthcarerecruit.com