Over the last few years, Navigo has been working with officials in the Indian State of Kerala, to enable psychiatrists to apply for jobs within the NHS directly, rather than individuals facing the costs of a private recruitment agency. Due to the high standard of education in Kerala and the number of health and care professionals that are trained (in excess of what is needed in India), this work has proved to be very successful.
Both Navigo and local institutions were keen that any arrangement made would be one that was ethical and mutually beneficial to both parties. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in relation to mental health services/professions was therefore created between three hospitals in Kerala, Navigo and Rotherham, Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation Trust (RDaSH), whereby the organisations would work to collaborate and support each other in research, exchange and exposure, training and sharing appropriate staff.
The successful collaboration between Kerala, Navigo and RDaSH, has led the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (India) and the Department of Health and Social Care (UK) to both demonstrate an equal keenness for the State of Kerala and Humber and North Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership to work together. We are excited to build on this partnership and extend the range of clinical and allied health professionals coming to work within our system, including primary care, community, mental health, and acute services. There is also interest from partners, for this collaboration to include professionals in the care sector.
The first step of this new collaborative is to hold a five-day multi-professional career fayre in Kerala in November 2022, with a total of 10 organisations joining this trip with more organisations working with us to build pathways for more roles and strengthening or introducing international recruitment into their organisations. Those joining us on the first visit as a system:
- St Andrew’s Hospice
- St Hugh’s Hospital
- Rotherham, Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation Trust
- Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust
- Navigo
- Tees, Esk and Wear Valley NHS Foundation Trust
- York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
- Lincolnshire Community Health Services
- Sheffield Health and Care
More information will be shared as this work progresses and how we balance international recruitment with the importance work of growing our own and encouraging local talent into the health and care sector.