Covid: Refugee nurses are being fast-tracked into the NHS
By Catrin Nye
image captionWalid Jarad worked as a nurse in intensive care for six years before coming to the UK
Refugee nurses are being fast-tracked into the NHS as part of a pioneering scheme in Liverpool. Those involved explain why the pandemic means it s vital the UK uses their medical experience.
Until last month, Walid Jarad had lived in just two t-shirts and two pairs of jeans for a whole year, washing them on rotation. He d lived in three hotels and a shared house in London, moving every couple of months.
Refugee nurses channelled into the NHS through new scheme
(Getty) (AFP via Getty Images)
Refugee nurses are being channelled into the NHS as part of a Liverpool-based scheme, giving asylum seekers the opportunity to use their qualifications to live an independent life in the UK.
Palestinian national from Lebanon, Walid Jarad, had lived in just two t-shirts and two pairs of jeans for a whole year, until last month.
Living in three hotels and a shared house in London, Jarad, like most asylum seekers, was not allowed to work in the UK in his first year in the country.
Before fleeing political persecution in Lebanon, Jarad worked as a nurse in the intensive care unit for six years.
Refugee nurses are being recruited into the NHS on a fast-track scheme to help in the UK s fight against coronavirus.
In the first scheme of its kind, Liverpool John Moores University are offering refugees a four-week course to bring them on to the frontline of hospitals across the country.
At the moment nurses who have fled their home countries to settle in the UK are not allowed to practice, no matter their qualifications, while their application is being processed.
The new course helps those who have been given asylum to get back into work.
The pilot course is being run in partnership with a charity called Refuaid, with the first 14 refugees on it coming from countries including Ethiopia, Sudan, Iran, Philippines, Gambia, Honduras and Myanmar.
LONDON: Nurses from refugee backgrounds are being recruited to work in English hospitals on a fast-track scheme to help the country against COVID-19.
The first-of-its-kind scheme, piloted in St. John’s Hospital in Liverpool, provides a four-week training course to bring refugee nurses up to speed with British practices, before introducing them to the workforce.
Under current rules, nurses who have fled their homeland and arrived in the UK are not allowed to practice their craft while their application for refugee status is being processed this can sometimes take months or years.
The new course helps nurses who have arrived in the UK to re-enter the workforce, and props up the number of nurses working for the National Health Service (NHS).