UK team in SVG to recruit nurses

A team from the United Kingdom (UK) is currently in St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) holding discussions and recruiting nurses for that country.

The nurses are being recruited under the Health Education England programme, which offers the opportunity to work in the UK for a three-year period.

Successful applicants will receive benefits including a paid flight to the UK, three months paid accommodation, access to education and training opportunities and the ability to earn over £23,000 in their first year.

The UK group met with Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves on Monday at Cabinet Room ahead of a press briefing during which Gonsalves updated the media on the recruitment process.

He said that a previous recruitment saw 34 nurses being chosen, but 15 of them are already employed here so only 19 remain from the initial process.

Sir Louis Straker, the foreign affairs minister had last year stated that unemployed nurses will be given first preference as the government does not want the more experienced nurses to leave and therefore leave us without proper nursing care.

“They have 19, so they’re organizing their visas and everything to go,” said Gonsalves who added that 49 more nurses have applied and will be doing interviews.

He added also that discussions are being held in relation to exchanges, where Vincentian nurses will go to the UK for training and return to SVG in a program that is separate and distinct from the current recruitment process.