New team of nurses join GOSH after successful Philippines recruitment drive

A new team of nurses have joined Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, including the International and Private Care division, after a successful recruitment drive in the Philippines.

The first cohort of 11 Filipino nurses arrived in the UK in January and after completing their two week Covid-19 self-isolation at a nearby hotel, are now working on wards across the hospital.

This is the first recruitment drive of its kind that GOSH has carried out in the Philippines. The plan to recruit nurses from the south east Asia country began in 2019, prior to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Due to vacancies in certain areas across the Trust, the nursing teams at GOSH decided to explore international nurse recruitment.

The team had learnt from other London trusts which had undertaken successful recruitment campaigns that there were large numbers of well trained and highly experienced nurses willing to come to the UK and work for the NHS.

A small group of staff travelled to the Philippines in January 2020, prior to the pandemic, and carried out a week of assessments and interviewed over 150 candidates. The week ended with 80 nurses being offered positions at GOSH.  

Marie Boxall, Head of Nursing (Nursing Workforce), said:

“We are delighted that the first group of nurses from the Philippines have joined us here at GOSH and are already working in the hospital with our patients, their families and other members of staff across a wide range of disciplines across the Trust

“The benefits these nurses bring with them include extensive paediatric experience in a wide variety of specialities.

“Despite the obvious delays because of the pandemic, the process of bringing our new colleagues into the Trust has gone very smoothly. They even had the chance to experience snow for the first time this month, which they were very excited about!  

“We look forward to the nurses bringing their knowledge and experience to our workforce at GOSH and hope they enjoy working with us.”

Kate Rivett, Head of Nursing (International and Private Care), said:

“We have been incredibly excited to welcome two nurses from the Philippines to our wards and we are grateful for their ongoing commitment to joining our team despite having to wait so much longer to come to the UK than expected due to the pandemic. They have settled in really well and are already making an impact with their colleagues…we are looking forward to working with them both and seeing them grow and develop over the coming months and years”.

It is hoped that around 50 nurses will arrive in the UK from the Philippines over the coming months, following rigorous nursing regulatory and visa requirements.

The arrival of the first cohort of nurses was significantly delayed as a result of the pandemic but the next cohort of 12 nurses will join the Trust in March.

It is expected that similar numbers will join the Trust every 1-2 months until all 50 nurses have joined the team.