Our work supporting newly recruited internationally educated nurses, midwives and Allied Health Professionals here at CHFT is paying dividends.

And NHS England’s North East and Yorkshire Regional Nursing Directorate have been so impressed, they’ve allocated us £3,000 in funding which will be used to help colleagues further advance their career with us.

Our innovate STAY programme - Stay, Thrive, Advance Yourself (STAY), supports internationally educated colleagues (IEC) to feel valued as part of our workforce, reach their professional potential, and embrace our One Culture of Care philosophy.

To help build a sense of belonging, our Clinical Education Team offers a wealth of support to IECs including:

• Pastoral Support. A recruitment specialist member of the team provides a seamless link between pre-employment communications and arrival in the UK, with a face-to-face meet and greet, to ensure all feel welcomed to our CHFT family.
• Buddy Scheme. Each IEC is introduced to a buddy who is an established CHFT colleague, previously recruited through the international programme. They provide additional Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) support and exam preparation where appropriate, and informal pastoral support.
• The team have also developed a booklet as a resource for both the Buddy and the IEN/IEC to provide information on the roles and responsibilities of each role.
• The induction programme includes information about the CHFT Race Equality Network, local town tours, and cultural food stores.

Chief Nurse, Lindsay Rudge, said: “I’m super-proud that CHFT is only one of three trusts in the region to get this funding.

“It’s a credit to our multi-disciplinary teams, who have put so much effort into supporting our IECs. Vacancy rates within the nursing and midwifery workforce have reduced significantly over the past 18 months, and this is in no small part due to the impact our internationally educated nurses are having at #TeamCHFT.

"And we've recently heard that we've been awarded The Pastoral Award, which again will support our programmes across nursing and midwifery."