by Andy Gray
agray@thekmgroup.co,uk
Nurses are being recruited from abroad to fill roles at our hospitals.

The Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust announced it still has 40 vacancies to fill and will go “international” in its search for the right candidates.

Staff will be hired from Portugal to fill some of its specialist roles.

The vacancies do not include 26 nurses from Ireland which the trust has already signed up to be in place by next month.

The trust says it looks to recruit locally, regionally and nationally first. And 24 newly-qualified nurses will join the trust in March, after completing three years’ study at Canterbury Christ Church University.
But this still leaves the 40 roles to fill.

A trust spokesman said: “The training courses in Ireland and Portugal are basically similar to the ones here. They concentrate on similar skills and strengths.”
The new nurses will be shared equally between Maidstone and the Tunbridge Wells hospitals.
Increased patient numbers at Tunbridge Wells are said to be behind the recruitment drive and many nurses will work in areas such as A & E.
In total, 90 new nurses are expected to join the trust over the coming months.

Last year the trust recruited more than 70 nurses which it claims reduced the need for agency staff by 10% and helped save the NHS more than £700,000.

Maidstone and Weald MP Helen Grant said it was important local nurses filled available posts at Maidstone Hospital.

She said: “I have written to the chief executive of the NHS Trust to question why he feels suitable nurses cannot be recruited from within the UK and I look forward to receiving his explanation.”