A warm Welsh welcome greets overseas nurses

We were delighted this week to welcome a further 33 overseas nurses to Cwm Taf Morgannwg, in addition to 27 nurses who joined in September. The new staff are now settling into their roles after completing a period of quarantine.

The nurses arrived in Wales from India in late September, and spent two weeks isolating in our Marsh House facility in Merthyr Tydfil. They have started their new roles at Prince Charles, Royal Glamorgan and Princess of Wales hospitals and are settling into a new country with pastoral support from our Practice Development Nurses and workforce team.

The new nurses are part of a cohort of more than 146 colleagues who have joined Cwm Taf Morgannwg over the past 12 months, primarily from India, with a further 69 due to arrive before Christmas. The nurses are already qualified to a high standard before they arrive, but are required to sit a practical assessment (OSCE exam) to achieve NMC registration and work on our wards as registered nurses. Their arrival comes as frontline staff across our health board face an increase in COVID-19 cases and the onset of winter pressures.

Cwm Taf Morgannwg Assistant Director of Workforce Donna Hill said: “We’re delighted to welcome our next cohort of overseas nurses and look forward to meeting them on the wards. Despite the obvious ongoing challenges brought this year, the overseas recruitment campaign has been made possible by our amazing Practice Development Nurses and workforce project support team.

“This is a real example of team working, not only in recruiting the staff but in developing and training the nurses and providing the pastoral care they need to adapt to new surroundings and cultures. I’d like to say well done and thank you to everyone involved.”