MKUH awarded NHS Pastoral Care Quality Award

Date: 02/06/2023

The Trust is delighted to have recently been awarded the NHS Pastoral Care Quality Award, recognising the fantastic work our teams have put in place to support our nursing and midwifery colleagues who have joined from countries around the world.

The NHS Pastoral Care Quality Award scheme was launched in March 2022 to help standardise the quality and delivery of pastoral care for internationally educated nurses and midwives across England to ensure they receive high-quality pastoral support.

At MKUH, we have recently recruited more than 175 nurses existing colleagues in providing high-quality care and experience for all of our patients. Our new nursing colleagues who joined us at MKUH in 2022 have passed their assessments, been awarded their NMC PIN and are working as Registered Nurses. This has been possible thanks to the pastoral schemes our HR team have put in place alongside the support received from Practice Education and colleagues across the whole hospital. Colleagues who joined us this year (2023) are currently in the process of completing their training and respective qualifications.

Our pastoral support package, which is available to all international joiners, includes:

  • Three months’ Trust arranged accommodation
  • Reimbursement of fees, both professional and personal
  • Comprehensive induction programme, including pre-joining webinars
  • Commitment to providing opportunities for continued learning and professional development
International Nurses' graduation

One of the recent graduation ceremonies for our international nurses

Sue Milner, Head of Resourcing at MKUH, said: “Effective recruitment from outside the UK is such an important part of our workforce strategy, enabling us to bring new skills, insights and ways of working into the hospital. Our programme over the last 18 months has been hugely successful; the nurses who have joined us are a fantastic addition to our team.

“The pastoral care we provide has been vital in establishing the support systems that these colleagues need to settle into a completely new country and I am hugely proud of what we have achieved so far. Being recognised by the NHS Pastoral Care Quality Award is brilliant but we aren’t stopping there – we’ve got lots of exciting plans to continuing developing and improving our approach to ensure that MKUH is a leader in supporting international recruitment across the NHS.”

To find out more about all careers offered by MKUH, visit our website: https://jobs.mkuh.nhs.uk/