Evidence submitted by Reache North West
(WP 09)
REACHE NORTH
WEST
Reache North West is a purpose built centre
in Hope Hospital in Salford. It has been set up to assist refugee
and asylum seeking Healthcare Professionals in the North West
to register their qualifications in the UK. We also assist them
in seeking professional employment in the UK National Health Service
(NHS). Reache works with organisations in the NHS, higher education
and refugee support. The unit is funded by the Lancashire and
Cumbria and Greater Manchester Strategic Health Authorities.
The professional staff at Reache are active
clinicians and are involved in the training of health care students
and NHS staff as well as their refugee work. All keep as up to
date as possible with developments in the health service, in order
to give the best service to the health professionals we help.
OUR COMMENTS
Reache would like to comment on the following
item of the terms of reference:
To what extent can and should the demand be
met, for both clinical and managerial staff, by:
— The recruitment of new staff in England.
— International recruitment.
1. We would ask that workforce planners
be aware of the refugee health care professional resource already
living in the UK. It is estimated that there are 2000 refugee/asylum
seeking doctors resident in the UK, more than 1000 of whom are
on the BMA database. Many of them have several years of experience
in a specialty in their own country and with the appropriate support
could be job ready in the UK in less time and cost than it takes
to train a medical student. Utilisation of this potential workforce
is hindered by recent changes to the training system of junior
doctors.
2. In the past the most appropriate level
for many of these doctors to enter the system was at PRHO level.
As a result of the modernising medical careers programme, PRHO
posts, now called F1 posts, are no longer available to refugee
doctors who have undertaken a similar post in their own country.
These overseas internships may not have provided appropriate experience
to allow the refugee doctor to apply for a higher grade post in
the NHS. This means that the refugee doctors are unable to access
the new training pathways in the UK.
3. It was anticipated that there would be
some F2 posts (second year post qualification) available for overseas
and refugee doctors but there is lack of clarity regarding this.
It would be helpful to have a clearly outlined statement of what
provision is expected and how it will be implemented.
4. There are 230+ nurses on the Royal College
of Nurses database and 131 dentists on the British Dental Association
database, and numbers of pharmacists, radiographers and other
professional groups registered with projects around the country.
They all represent a potential source of experienced, highly motivated
staff for the NHS.
5. We recommend that workforce planners
consider value and develop the refugee health care professional
resource already resident in the UK before looking to international
recruitment. They will contribute to a stable, long term workforce
in the NHS as well as bringing cultural diversity reflecting the
local population of the areas where they work. Individual success
and participation in the Health service also delivers a firm message
about the valuable contribution of refugees to the UK and will
aid efforts to improve social cohesion and furthering the aspirations
of people from disadvantaged communities.
I hope this is of use to you, and I would be
very happy to present oral evidence to the inquiry.
Dr Maeve Keaney
Director, Reache North West, and Consultant Microbiologist,
Salford Royal Hospitals NHS Trust
13 March 2006
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