Education and Training support to refugee healthcare professionals

Health Education England (HEE) is seeking to commission education and training for refugee health care workers.

In common with other developed countries, the UK has traditionally relied on overseas doctors to make up the shortfall between the numbers of doctors it trains and the number it needs to staff its health service and ensure effective healthcare delivery. The most up-to-date figures show that more than a third of doctors (36.4%; n=102,172) registered with the General Medical Council (GMC) have gained their medical qualification outside of the UK. It has been suggested that more than two-thirds of Trusts and Health Boards in the UK are trying to recruit from overseas in order to meet the challenge of the current shortage of qualified staff. Between 2013 and 2016, there was a 60% increase in doctor vacancies and vacancies remain high, particularly across the North East area.

Recruitment to posts remains an issue for the North East and Cumbria, experiencing one of the lowest fill rates in the country in 2017. There has been a steady decrease in fill rates since 2013. Recent increases in fill rates are being linked to C19 pandemic travel restrictions and we anticipate fill rates to reduce again once international travel is more widely accepted/accessed.

One of the key workforce agendas of Health Education England is the provision of multiple pipelines into the workforce. The lead in time for many health professionals, if training from school-leaver can take many years and therefore is seen as a long term solution. Short term options include the upskilling of existing staff or potential staff, including refugees.

Refugee doctors and other health professionals often face a range of issues within the UK, not least the transition in culture, language and living conditions. Regulatory bodies such as the GMC, HCPC and NMC have stringent criteria for working in the UK, many of which are based on providing evidence of proficient English Language ability, often via the IELTS exam or, more recently, Occupational English.

Towns such as Stockton and Middlesbrough, already struggling with high unemployment, poor housing and social problems like drug and alcohol abuse, have the UK's highest number of refugees per head. Middlesbrough has a higher than average refugee population (1in 186 of the population) including health care workers. Given that the region has a workforce shortage and that there is a humanitarian need to respond to the refugee crisis, most recently in Afghanistan and Ukraine, HEENE, in conjunction with North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Trust developed the REPOD project as a pilot. This programme has run recurrently since 2017 and we are looking to secure programme partners for up to another 5 years.

Further details and the tender documents can be accessed from the following link:

https://health-family.force.com/s/Welcome