The
Government must make greater use of refugees to avert a crisis in the
recruitment of nurses, according to the results of a year-long study.
The
report, presented to health minister John Hutton at the Emp-loyability Forum
conference last week, offers a better way to register and employ refugee
nurses.
It
also recommends a national database, to alert employers to the untapped skills
on their doorstep, and to provide more effective pathways to registration and
employment for refugee nurses, greater use of intensive language courses, and
the introduction of more supervised practice placements and mentoring.
An
estimated 25 per cent of nurses employed by the NHS will leave in the next five
years.
Roswyn
Hakesley-Brown, who chaired the taskforce that carried out the research, said
that refugee nurses have huge talents to offer, which the UK badly needs.
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“At
a time of skills shortages in nursing, refugee nurses represent a significant,
but largely untapped, pool of talent,” she said.
Personnel
Today’s ‘Refugees in Employment’ campaign has lobbied for a comprehensive
refugees skills database for two years. Des-pite the Government’s promises, it
has yet to come into existence.
