Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust have been awarded the NHS Pastoral Care Quality Award, recognising the quality and delivery of pastoral care for internationally educated nurses and midwives.
Launched in March 2022, the award scheme is also an opportunity for Trusts to recognise their work in international recruitment and demonstrate their commitment to staff wellbeing both to potential, and existing employees.
The safe arrival, induction, and provision of support for new people joining the NHS workforce is the number one priority for international recruitment.
Based on feedback from internationally educated nurses and Trust International Recruitment leads, varying levels of pastoral care are provided across the NHS, but enhanced pastoral care has a positive impact on recruitment and retention.
Once Trusts have achieved the award, it demonstrates a commitment to supporting internationally educated nurses and midwives at every stage of their recruitment and beyond.
To achieve the award, evidence was compiled by Lauryn Guest, Pastoral Support Officer for International Recruits, and Debbie Tickle, Recruitment Manager at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals. It was a big piece of work – detailing the support the Trust provides across the board, from Pastoral Support, Recruitment and Ward Managers.
Lauryn was delighted the hard work came to fruition. She said: “It’s really big to earn this award, we have over 600 international nurses, so to be able to say the pastoral care we provide is of good quality is massive and will help as we continue to recruit nurses from abroad.”
Lauryn admits her role is an enjoyable one: “We do quite a lot for our international nurses - when they arrive they are completely on their own, unless they have friends who have come over in previous cohorts, so we meet them on their arrival at the accommodation, which we provide funded for 12 weeks so they can get settled and set up.
“During that 12 weeks they are supported by myself and the recruitment team, and we give them a tour of the area, shops, places to eat, spiritual places, and they link in with me when they are due to move out after 12 weeks, to look at the rental market. I’ve been to viewings and helped them ask the questions they need to ask. It’s a really fulfilling role.
“Preston and Chorley have a massive international community, and we have our community hub, bringing the nurses together for socials and games nights.. You do get attached to people, when I pass previous cohorts in the corridor, I like to see how they are doing, and they are always telling me what they are up to and how they would like to progress within the Trust.”
Henry Agbo, who works on Ward 17, arrived from Nigeria in February 2023, and has been impressed with the support available. He said: “My initial impression of the hospital Trust and the local area when I arrived was a great one. I really do respect the hospital so much because from my experience they treat every of their employees as important as anybody else, also I was given ample time to sort myself out when I had issues with my processes prior to my arrival.
“Coming here, right from the airport, I felt welcomed already and getting to the accommodation, I was met with an open minded individual in Lauryn, who saw that I got everything I needed to settle in properly, ranging from the groceries and beddings given to me; it was a heart-warming experience. She also ensured I was familiar with the surroundings by taking me round some important parts of the city of Preston and it really helped me a lot settling in.”
The NHS has always benefited from overseas recruitment, since the outset of the service, coinciding with the arrival of the Windrush generation, and recruitment from outside the UK continues to feature as an important part of the workforce supply strategy of NHS organisations, in line with the NHS People Plan.
