NHS in refugee recruitment drive

Adapting skills would be a fraction of the cost of full training

A health authority is starting a recruitment drive among refugees to help fill staff vacancies in the NHS.

The Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire Strategic Health Authority said many refugees were trained as health workers in their own countries.

Adapting their skills for the NHS would cost a fraction of what was spent training new staff from scratch.

The authority is launching its recruitment search in Newmarket, Suffolk next Tuesday.

While training a medical student to become a doctor in the UK costs £250,000 and takes five years, training a refugee doctor can cost just £25,000 and take three years.

The authority's director of workforce and development, Margaret Barrett, said: "Many refugees were experienced health professionals in their own country and it makes good sense, for them and for us, to make it easier for them to undergo the necessary training and examinations to be able to work in the NHS."