Town could see more overseas nurses as wellbeing campus plans progress

A mid Wales town could see an influx of overseas healthcare workers if plans to build a wellbeing programme campus progress.

At a meeting of Powys Teaching Health Board (PTHB) on Wednesday, November 26 members received an update report from Chief Executive Hayley Thomas on the developments at the organisation in recent weeks.

This included a section where Ms Thomas welcomed six international trained nurses to PTHB and said that they had: “settled into Brecon extremely well and are working on Y Bannau ward at the hospital.”

This is the third group of international nurses to join PTHB as they look to address recruitment issues.

Independent board member Ian Thomas had noted this section of the report.

Mr Thomas said: “Are we able to provide the appropriate kind of support for nurses coming from overseas, in particular accommodation?

“We need to be able to plan for the future and with nurses coming across we need to make sure they are appropriately housed.

“How are we supporting that settling in transition?”

Ms Thomas said: “It’s fair to say that accommodation has been a major issue for us to be able to place international nurses.

“There is substantial work being undertaken at the moment to look at the options and put it on a more sustainable footing.

“Some of that is tied around our thinking on the North Powys hub and potentially working with RSLs (Registered Social Landlords) or others to develop more accommodation options.”

Limiting factors

Director of People and Culture Debra Wood-Lawson told the board that the numbers of internationally trained nurse had grown from two a couple of years ago to over 30 now.

Ms Wood-Lawson said: “One of the limiting factors has been the availability of housing that allows the individuals to come in while undertaking their OSCE qualifications but then beyond that housing for those that want to rent or purchase.”

The OSCE is a qualification which allows nurses trained elsewhere to be able to practice in the UK.

Ms Lawson-Wood continued: “It hasn’t prevented us bringing over any nurses to date, but it does require us to be careful to find however many houses we need for a cohort.”

She said there has been “zero turnover” in overseas nurses that have come to Powys, meaning they all continue to work in the county.

“That is pretty remarkable and testament to teams that support them,” said Ms Wood-Lawson.

Ms Wood-Lawson added that overseas trained doctors were also going to be recruited by PTHB.

The multi-agency health and wellbeing campus in Newtown, known as the North Powys Wellbeing Programme, is a collaboration between the PTHB and Powys County Council that was first mooted in 2019.

Work on the project has been on the back burner in recent years due to the squeeze on public finances.

This year however the Welsh Government gave a much-needed stimulus with just under £1 million provided to help to develop the Strategic Outline Case/Outline Business Case for the wellbeing hub.

The final proposal for the £30 million facility is expected to be lodged with the Welsh Government before Christmas.