Nurse faces 225-mile commute despite mounting local vacancies
Posted 27 February 2023 - 05:00
A Canadian nurse living in Northern Ireland has accepted a job in Scotland after applications to local understaffed trusts went unanswered
A nurse living in Northern Ireland has been forced to accept a nursing post in Scotland after recruitment delays meant 15 job applications went unanswered.
Northern Ireland trusts failed to respond to job applications
Nurse practitioner and emergency care nurse Alexander Vukelich moved from Canada to County Down in August with his wife who is originally from the area.
But the nurse of 15 years was surprised when he struggled to find work locally, applying for more than a dozen nursing jobs at four NHS employers, including the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust, South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust, Western Health and Social Care Trust, and Northern Health and Social Care Trust.
Administrative problems in Northern Ireland’s health service meant Mr Vukelich’s applications were delayed. Anxious to get a job, he applied for a post at NHS Scotland and was offered a role working in an emergency department.
It means he’ll now commute more than 200 miles from Bangor in Northern Ireland to Mid-Argyll Community Hospital, run by NHS Highland, in Scotland so that he can continue working as a nurse in the UK. He is likely to work condensed shifts and stay in hospital accommodation.
Understaffed trusts acknowledge recruitment delays
‘It’s been a challenge. I was really surprised. I could understand the odd rejection letter, but there were some jobs that were exactly what I had been doing in Canada, and I wasn’t even getting an interview,’ he said.
‘I could change careers and get a different job, but I became a nurse to serve my community and I don’t want to lose my skills. I thought if I can’t do it in Ireland then I’ll give it a go in Scotland.’
After passing the objective structured clinical exams (OSCE) exam to join the Nursing and Midwifery Council register, Mr Vukelich is now waiting for his Disclosure and Barring Service check to be verified before he gets his PIN.
But whereas NHS Scotland was able to process his application quickly and offer him an interview, the Department of Health in Northern Ireland said they were ‘aware of several delays in the recruitment process’, particularly around refences. It comes as Northern Ireland is facing around 3,000 nursing vacancies.
A spokesperson added that they are actively recruiting staff from overseas, with 364 international nurses recruited since April 2022.
Delays are ‘unacceptable’ when nurses are struggling with staff shortages
But RCN Northern Ireland director Rita Devlin said she was concerned that while pressures were building on current staff, talented nurses were struggling to start jobs due to administrative delays.
She said: ‘In the past we know there have been delays of up to nine months to get a nurse into post. This is totally unacceptable, particularly when the service has a vacancy rate of almost 3,000 nursing staff.
‘We cannot have nurses at one end who are unable to cope in hospitals and in the community while, at the other end, people are waiting to start jobs. While it is crucial that various checks and processes are followed meticulously to ensure proper safeguarding, it should not take months to do this.’
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