Collaborative International Recruitment Programme Delivers Hundreds of Nurses for Wales

Background

NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership (NWSSP) is an independent mutual organisation, owned and directed by NHS Wales. It provides a range of services on behalf of all Health Boards in NHS Wales, so they can focus on more effective local delivery of frontline services. 

In early January 2022, Medacs was officially appointed as a key supplier of international nurses to NWSSP, along with three other agencies. The collective target was to recruit 436 international nurses, all of whom needed to have arrived and have started working in Wales by the end of August 2022. Medacs’ international recruitment team committed to recruiting 200 of the required 436 nurses for NWSSP (46%), with the remainder to be supplied by the other three agencies. 

The Challenge

Delivering a large-scale international recruitment programme across multiple Health Boards required hundreds of OSCE-ready nurses to be identified, interviewed and relocated within a demanding timeframe. This was achieved against a backdrop of visa processing delays, ongoing disruption to international travel and intense competition for experienced nurses from healthcare providers worldwide.

Success depended on more than volume recruitment alone. Nurses needed to be carefully matched to locations across Wales based on personal preferences, family considerations and long-term career aspirations, while stakeholders with limited experience of international recruitment required support throughout the process. Extensive pastoral care and engagement were also essential to maintain candidate commitment, minimise dropouts and support a smooth transition into their new communities.

Results

• 455 nurses were shortlisted for interviews and the Medacs teams coordinated 40 to 50 interviews a week, over 10 weeks, with different Health Boards. 
• The quality of the shortlist was evident with a high 70% interview to offer ratio, which also minimised the time Health Board stakeholders spent interviewing unsuitable candidates. 
• 275 nurses in total accepted offers and commenced onboarding, equating to an offered to acceptance rate of 87%.
• Travel and visa arrangements were swiftly coordinated and all offered nurses arrived on time.
• 263 of nurses recruited by Medacs were sourced from India, with the remainder recruited from a wide range of other global regions in line with the NHS Employers Code of Practice for ethical international recruitment.
• Medacs international teams successfully achieved 138% of their original target to recruit 200 nurses, which was 66% of the total recruitment target for all contracted agencies.