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First cohort of Kenyan nurses on NHS fast-track scheme start work

Thirteen nurses joined Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to boost NHS numbers under an agreement between the Kenyan and UK governments

Thirteen nurses joined Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to boost NHS numbers under an agreement between the Kenyan and UK governments

Thirteen Kenyan nurses have joined Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to work in the UK
Thirteen Kenyan nurses have joined Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to work in the UK for a fixed period. Picture: Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

The first cohort of Kenyan nurses offered work in the UK as part of a government deal to boost NHS numbers have begun work at a trust in England.

Thirteen nurses joined Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (OUH) in June on a fast-tracked scheme that enables them to work in the UK for a fixed period.

Work offered to unemployed Kenyan nurses in a bid to boost NHS numbers

They are the first to begin work under an agreement between the Kenyan and UK governments signed in July 2021 that aimed to boost NHS employment numbers and offer work to unemployed Kenyan nurses.

Nurse Julia Mbuthia, from the town Murang'a, around 50 miles from Nairobi, said: ‘While in Kenya, I learnt about the difficulties some countries have in recruiting and I hoped to be part of the solution.’

Chief nursing officer for OUH Sam Foster added: ‘We are grateful to Julia and the new nurses for joining us, and we are very lucky to have them. Together, they will enhance diversity, introduce new ideas, and boost our nursing workforce.

‘We have so much to learn from each other and they will help us deliver compassionate excellence to our patients.’

While at the time the deal was struck the UK Government claimed it would be beneficial to both countries, the NHS’s continued reliance on overseas recruitment has faced criticism in recent months.

Overseas nurse recruitment having ‘no clear impact’ on shortages, says think tank

International recruitment is expected to deliver between 51,000 and 57,000 more nurses by 2024, according to Department of Health and Social Care figures.

An investigation by the think tank The King’s Fund in April found the Government’s policy to recruit 50,000 nurses in England’s NHS by 2024 – which relies heavily on international recruitment – is having ‘no clear impact’ on nurse shortages.

It found that even if the Government hit its manifesto target, it was ‘still missing the point’, as recruitment is not having any meaningful effect on the true scale of nurse shortages.

More recently, a workforce analysis by the Health Foundation warned the NHS in England could be facing a shortfall of 38,000 hospital, community and primary care nurses next year.

In a worst-case scenario – where there is a fall in the number of students applying for nursing degrees, drop-out rates increase, international recruitment declines and more nurses take early retirement – the figure could increase to an ‘apocalyptic’ 140,000 by 2030, the report said.


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