Released 27 April 2023
Request:
- How many nurses have been recruited from India since January 2022?
- How long is the Induction Process?
- What is included in the Induction period?
- Is there a mentorship programme in place?
- If there is how long does this last?
- What accommodation is provided ?
- For how long is this accommodation available?
- What help is given to the nurses to find and secure suitable rented accommodation locally ?
- Does University Hospitals Sussex NHS Trust have contracts with local lettings agents that work with the nurses on finding accommodation?
- What ongoing group support networks have been set up to support the nurses? Some of them have never travelled outside of India before.
- How often does each nurse have individual clinical one to one supervision to discuss their progress and any issues?
- Does each nurse have access to Human Resources to request support for personal issues e.g. death of a family member, family sickness in India?
- How many nurses have broken their contract with University Hospitals Sussex NHS Trust and returned to India or moved to a different NHS Trust? I am aware that because of the financial penalties if a contract is broken some nurses working for the Trust feel trapped and unable to resign.
Information disclosed:
- Between January 2022 and March 2023, the Trust directly recruited 227 nurses from India.
- Eight weeks
- Five weeks induction to the NHS/Trust, and one week to the local area; Objective Structured Clinical Examination [OSCE] preparation for five weeks, and two weeks minimum induction to their clinical area.
- Yes, the Trust offers a preceptorship programme (1 year), mentorship on the ward with a trained mentor (no set time limit, dependent on individual needs) as well as assistance through the International Nursing Team (initial 3 months).
- See answer to question 4.
- Trust accommodation for a single person room in shared facilities.
- Eight weeks at a minimum.
- All nurses are provided with information before they arrive and upon arrival, covering details of letting agents, house/rooms shares, and accommodation offered by local people and staff. The accommodation team will also assist nurses in finding accommodation.
- We do not have specific contracts with letting agents, but there are a number of local letting agents that provide assistance.
- They have the address to the Nursing Association in the UK relevant to their country of origin, a WhatsApp group, introduction to previous arrivals, and information on local churches and groups.
- Weeks 1-5 daily with the International Team, and then for weeks 6-12 weekly with the Preceptorship Team. Additionally, there are daily or weekly opportunities, depending on each nurse’s needs with their mentor; and within the first three months with their manager.
- Yes, they have support from their Manager, the International team, Occupational Health and Human Resources, as well as a range of health and wellbeing resources which are outlined on the staff intranet, and they are made aware of this at their induction.
- Our nurses are employed on a substantive contract; however, they are free to resign at any time. Between March 2022-2023, ≤5 nurses resigned from the Trust.
This data has been anonymised in line with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) Anonymisation: Managing Data Protection Risk Code of Practice as it relates to the disclosure of information relevant to a small number of living people. The Trust considers the disclosure of more specific information to be exempt under section 40(2) [personal information] exemption.