Leader of the Welsh Conservatives in the Senedd and Clwyd West MS Darren Millar has asked the Welsh Government why people in North Wales with a nursing degree are struggling to get work when hundreds of nurses are being employed from overseas.
In Tuesday's meeting of the Welsh Parliament, Darren questioned the Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing, Sarah Murphy MS, over action being taken by the Welsh Government to address recruitment challenges in the Welsh NHS.
He focused in particular on the recruitment of nurses, describing the current situation as “a peculiar state of affairs”.
He said:
“I have people who have just completed their nursing degrees in North Wales at the moment who tell me that they cannot get a job.
“They cannot get a job, in spite of the fact that hundreds of nurses are coming in from overseas. And yet, the NHS seems to also be heavily reliant on agency nurses as well.
“That seems to me to be a peculiar state of affairs, and one that needs some urgent investigation by the Welsh Government to make sure that we're getting bang for the buck for taxpayers, given that these courses will have been funded by taxpayers.”
Darren also asked what action the Welsh Government is taking in order to address the concerns that there are about the Cardiff University school of nursing closing and “the impact that that might have on the nursing profession more widely, on patient safety and, indeed, on the public purse in the future”.
Responding, the Minister said:
“In terms of the issues that your residents are having in the north of Wales, I would suggest writing to the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care about that specifically. But I don't want to conflate it with the other issue that you've raised, which I don't believe is an issue; I think it's actually a very good-news story: the all-Wales international Recruitment Programme has successfully recruited more than 1,000 internationally educated healthcare professionals into the NHS Wales workforce.”
Speaking after the meeting Darren said:
“The Minister can champion the all-Wales International Recruitment Programme as much as she likes, but the truth of the matter is we have qualified people here on our doorstep who are disappointed and frustrated that after years of study, they can’t get a job. This is something that really needs to be looked at.”
