UHDB celebrates Overseas NHS Workers Day 2023
On Friday, 3 March, the third annual Overseas NHS Workers Day took place, and we were pleased to take the opportunity to express our thanks to UHDB's international colleagues and celebrate their contribution to our organisation and communities.
Executive Chief People Officer, Amanda Rawlings, was "delighted" to be able to celebrate our Overseas staff, saying: "Overseas NHS Workers Day may just be one moment for us to recognise the brilliance of our colleagues from around the globe, but every single day we rely upon their expertise, experience and exceptional standards.
"Internationally trained doctors, nurses, and staff across our organisation make up a significant proportion of our workforce, and play a vital role in delivering effective patient care to our communities.
"Not only here at UHDB, but across the NHS in the near 75 years since it began, the contribution of staff from overseas has helped shape our health service to be the inclusive, effective and experienced organisation that it is today.
"We are committed to having an environment in which colleagues from all over the world, from all backgrounds and ethnicities, are welcomed as valued, equal members of our #TeamUHDB family."
On this day, we have looked back over the years to highlight our actions as part of this commitment.
Working with our EMBRACE Staff Network to celebrate our overseas colleagues
Since September 2022, we have worked with our EMBRACE staff network to create our 'One World, One #TeamUHDB' artwork that is displayed across all of our hospital sites - which shows the flags of all the nationalities of our staff from across the globe, celebrating our pride in working together to deliver exceptional care. The flags included in this artwork were based on data we retrieved through our employee system in June 2022 - and we plan to review this data annually, and as we welcome new colleagues from more nations, we are excited to see how the flags displayed in this artwork will change.
In addition to this, UHDB and its EMBRACE network will soon be launching its #SeeMeFirst initiative, a staff-led campaign that will provide an opportunity for staff to show that they stand in support of all of our colleagues, patients and communities - regardless of their nationality, ethnicity or background - through the wearing of specially designed lanyards and badges.
You can read more about the #SeeMeFirst initiative here (staff only) >
Welcoming refugees to work at UHDB
In October 2022, our Refugee Support Programme team was shortlisted for the Best UK Employer of the Year Award in last year's Nursing Times awards and was also nominated for our Openness and Inclusion Award in our annual Making a Difference Awards 2022. This team was instrumental in supporting five refugee nurses from Palestine, who we welcomed as part of a national scheme spearheaded by NHSE/I.
The five refugees - Ghada El Ayoud, Ibrahim Al-Ali, Ibrahim Tantory, Salah Hussein and Hamzeh Shridi - were all working as nurses in Lebanon while living in refugee camps with their families, before they made the journey to the UK around one year ago in March 2022. After an initial four-week basic training course at Liverpool's John Moores University in order to practice in the UK, they moved to Derby and began working clinically at Royal Derby Hospital as Healthcare Support Workers.
Once they have achieved registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), they will be offered permanent positions within UHDB as Registered Nurses, and we are delighted to see that Ghada has this week passed her OSCE and joins us in a permanent position.
You can read more about the Refugee Support Programme here >
Supporting Filipino and Internationally Educated Nurses across UHDB
In November 2000, 24 nurses made the long journey from the Philippines to a cold and frosty UK to start a new life. They were the first cohort of Filipino nurses to come to Derby. Now, over two decades later, 14 of that original group still work at UHDB alongside nearly 700 other Filipino colleagues across our organisation, who make up a significant part of our nursing colleagues.
The contribution of this large cohort of our colleagues has helped improve the way we care for our patients and continue to make the Trust a happy place to work in for all.
Being in a new country and working in a new environment can be extremely daunting for many, and we have taken many steps to ensure that nurses from both the Philippines and around the world are supported to deliver exceptional patient care to our communities and develop their skills in the process.
One of our colleagues, Aldarico Velasco, came to the UK from the Philippines in July 2019, and has used this experience and growth within our organisation to support his new role as International Nurse Facilitator - fostering a positive learning experience for all international nurses coming to work with us at #TeamUHDB, as well as those from the Philippines.
This role arose from an event in which Internationally Educated Nurses (IENs) were asked for their feedback and how as an organisation, we could support them further. The consensus was that they wanted a leader who shared their experience to look out for them, and soon after, Aldarico took on the role.
For this work, Aldarico was shortlisted for the 'Overseas Nurse of the Year' category in the Nursing Times Workforce Awards 2022. In addition, Aldarico plays a key role in the Refugee Support Programme team that was also nominated in the awards.
Aldarico said, when he was nominated for the award, that the number of IENs "speaks volumes" to how much overseas nurses are valued here. He continued:
"The fact I'm in this role is a reflection of the commitment and dedication we have for IENs at UHDB. We are very much 'part of the team' and deserve a spotlight for the work we do across the organisation. I'm very happy that UHDB is celebrating Overseas NHS Workers Day and giving us that spotlight today."
Image (Clockwise from top left): Aldarico Velasco, Ghada El Ayoud, 'One World, One #TeamUHDB' artwork at Royal Derby Hospital