West London NHS Trust won the International Recruitment Experience category at this year’s Nursing Times Workforce Awards.
The 12-week Mental Health Integration Programme was developed in 2017 by Practice Development Nurse, Donna Sloss, Associate Practice Development Nurse, Monika Sabharwal, KUF Co-facilitator, Tia Urgasova, along with Local Services Lakeside team.
West London NHS Trust’s Chief Executive, Carolyn Regan said: “This a fantastic programme and a well-deserved win for all involved. The programme was created as a way of addressing wider recruitment and retention issues of mental health nurses by hiring internationally educated nurses (IENs) from the Philippines. This initiative has made a real impact on recruiting and retaining nurses within our Trust, as well as being a great example of best practice across the NHS.”
The Trust was chosen as the very best out of a bumper shortlist of 12 entries, including high profile organisations such as Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, Leeds Teaching Hospitals and Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust. The team collected the award at a glitzy ceremony at the Brewery in Central London.
Successes of the programme include:
35 IENs have been hired and we’ve achieved a 98% retention rate for those staying at the Trust beyond the first year
The integration framework developed to support IENs in mental health has been adopted regionally and nationally by Capital Nurse and NHSEI as best practice guidance
IENs were instrumental in operationalising the first mental health Covid ward in the UK
The Trust gained a reputation as a preferred employer for overseas mental health nurses
The Trust has been selected as a pilot trust for the Refugee Nursing Project for nurses from war-torn countries.
