Background
The recruitment process of pharmacists in England is challenging due to the lack of a consistent pipeline and clinical qualification requirements. This national shortage puts pressure on patient discharge timescales. The NHS Workforce Alliance East of England team led a large-scale pilot, the first of its kind, involving three NHS trusts in the East of England in urgent need of pharmacists.
Challenges
All three trusts had differing recruitment procedures, pastoral care packages and retention initiatives so a collaborative approach using best practices techniques was required to produce an efficient and cost-effective way forward for the trusts. The challenge was to engage with specialist international suppliers that could not only improve the supply of high-calibre candidates from overseas but that could also provide practical support as well as guidance on pastoral care that would establish a structured welcome and induction package for international recruits.
Furthermore, the pilot was designed to be scalable to other trusts and regions so needed to address diverse challenges such as different geographical, cultural, and financial challenges.
Outcome
As well as significant financial savings, the project, headed by Katherine Moore, Alliance Strategic Workforce Procurement Lead and Matt Green, Alliance Workforce Procurement Specialist, has seen four international pharmacists recruited for North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust and one at East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust.
Each recruit receives on-going support from the trust as part of a structured welcome and induction package. Feedback on all aspects of the programme from the successful applicants will help embed further improvements moving forwards.
“The overseas recruitment programme has allowed the department to successfully expand its usual intake of applicants more widely across the financial year. It’s provided access to registered staff with a broad range of experiences and clear enthusiasm to develop clinical skills in the UK. “
“All our new pharmacists have settled in very well to the locality and work role, and we look forward to further developing the mutual benefits produced from the overseas recruitment programme as part of our workforce strategy in the coming years. “
Stephen Cook, Chief Pharmacist, North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust
Find out more about the first international recruits that joined Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn NHS Foundation Trust in 2024.
Get in touch
If your trust would be interested in finding out more about this pilot, please get in touch with your regional Alliance team or Get in touch via the Alliance website.