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Supporting health and social care providers in Devon

International Recruitment

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion provider forum

We held a provider forum for all providers who undertake international recruitment in Devon to discuss EDI, get feedback and suggestions and create a working group to progress work in this area.

You can read the minutes, listen back to the recording and access helpful links here.

There was also a presentation from Plymouth Hope, who support refugees, international students and asylum seekers, which can be viewed here.

Modern Slavery Awareness Booklet

Modern slavery is happening in the UK today, but the crime can be difficult to spot and go unreported.

This guidance is intended as a resource providing clear and up to date information on the key facts, and to help public sector workers who may not routinely come across modern slavery recognise the signs and respond so that more victims get help and perpetrators are brought to justice.  For access to the full booklet please click here.

For further guidance and links to report concerns, click here.

Open letter sent to providers September 2023.

How to refer incidents of modern slavery.

Reporting flow chart.

A simple guide to the National Referral Mechanism (NRM).

Useful links.

Funding Proposal (Oct 2022)

One Devon agreed to invest in a prototype to support international recruitment into Adult Social Care provided by the independent sector across the whole system.

What did it deliver?

Recruitment was run by the Devon International Recruitment Alliance.  The Devon County Council area received over 70 senior care workers/care workers.

What was required of Providers to be included?

Providers needed to have their own international recruitment license in place or have an application in hand with the Home Office to be considered for phase one of this pilot.  For providers who did not currently have a license we supported them with the process through materials and webinars but 1:1 support was not offered.  Further information and guidance can be found on the Government website.

Providers needed to have provision to accommodate international recruits, either on-site or in rented accommodation (there was £600 of funding support for this as part of the One Devon offer to support this initially).

There was an opportunity for providers to shape and develop training and induction together to make the best use of time and resources, and all recruits were provided with a comprehensive welcome pack by the Devon International Recruitment Alliance, covering a wide range of topics including wellbeing support, finding supermarkets that sell international food and places of worship that support their faith, and cultural information on living in the UK.

Priority areas for this pilot were:

  1. Domiciliary Care and other community services excluding Supported Living and Care Homes in the following Priority locations:
    • Exeter and East Devon
    • South Devon – especially Teignmouth/Dawlish/Newton Abbot
    • North Devon – especially Barnstaple and Braunton
  • Priority was given to providers who were commissioned by DCC who could improve hospital discharge, return people home who were temporarily in care homes and release additional capacity from short-term services provided by the NHS and DCC

         2.  Care Homes and Supported Living

  • Care homes/Supported Living who could demonstrate additional capacity as a result of the pilot and who provided care to people who present with complexity (including behaviours that are challenging), including the potential to reduce 1:1 support
  • Care homes/Supported Living who support the discharge of people from hospital

          3. Market sufficiency will be a consideration where a provider whose service is needed is at risk due to insufficient staffing

  • There was a maximum indicative number of subsidies per care provider so that we could balance the pipeline of applicants between small and large providers. However, in the EOI providers were asked to specify what they could achieve given an optimal number of placements. This would be reviewed and would provide the basis for potential extensions of the scheme where the business case could be made.
  • Where providing CQC regulated services applications would be prioritised to those who are rated Good or Outstanding

What was the offer?  What was being funded by this offer?

The funding covered the cost of the Immigration Skills Charge, which was £3,000 for large providers and £1,092 for small providers.

It would also fund all of the following charges for nurses and senior/care workers.  Neither the applicant nor the Provider would bear any of these costs.  These costs would initially be paid by the Provider and then reclaimed by invoice from the Devon International Recruitment Alliance.

COSTS OF INTERNATIONAL NURSE RECRUITMENT THROUGH

DEVON INTERNATIONAL RECRUITMENT HUB

   
Item Cost Notes
IELTS/ OET £360 Max – reimbursed on arrival to UK with receipt
Part 1 Test of Competence (CBT) £90 Reimbursed on arrival to UK with Receipt
Application to NMC £140 Reimbursed on arrival
Admission on to the register £153  Reimbursed
Health And Care Worker Visa £232

£232 for 3 year licence

£464 for 3-5 year licence

Transfer from airport to accommodation c£150 Per Nurse
Food Hamper for nurses on arrival £25 To the value of £25 & further if isolating
Mobile Phone Sim £10
Part 2 Test of Competence (OSCE) £794 For the first exam
OSCE training/Accommodation/travel c£1000 Depending on location of provision of OSCE
Flight c>£600 Dependent on location of candidate
Accommodation £600
Sub Total £4,154  
Optional Items Cost Notes
Part 2 Test of Competence (OSCE) £397 For a resit

 

COSTS OF INTERNATIONAL CARE WORKER/SENIOR CARE WORKER RECRUITMENT THROUGH

DEVON INTERNATIONAL RECRUITMENT HUB

   
Item Cost Notes
English language proficiency – B2 £200 Max – reimbursed on arrival to UK with receipt
Health And Care Worker Visa £232

£232 for 3 year licence

£464 for 3-5 year licence

Transfer from airport to accommodation c£150 Per care worker
Food Hamper for care worker on arrival £25 To the value of £25 & further if isolating
Mobile Phone Sim £10
Flight c>£600 Dependent on location of candidate
Accommodation £600
Sub Total £1,817  

For full proposal please click here

Any questions?

If you have any additional questions, please contact Tracy Grant on 01392 380499 or tracy.grant@devon.gov.uk

Skills for Care held a webinar on international recruitment, with the experiences of Providers who have been recruiting successfully from overseas.  You can view their webinar here.  A copy of the slides can be found here.  The Q&A document can be viewed here.  Please note these answers reflect the opinion and experience of the panel members.

Updated code of practice for international recruitment of health and social care staff

The code of practice promoting the high standards of ethical practice in the international recruitment and employment of health and social care personnel has been updated. It sets out the UK’s approach to supporting health and social care systems and workforce and is aimed at all health or social care organisations or recruitment agencies undertaking international recruitment.

International recruitment into adult social care

The UK Point-based Immigration system allows for international recruitment of nurses and senior care workers for adult social care via the route for skilled workers who have a job offer from an approved employer sponsor.

On 24 December 2021, the Department of Health and Social Care announced that care workers, care assistants and home care workers would be added to the Shortage Occupation List, which stipulates an annual salary minimum of £20,480 for care workers to qualify for the Health and Care visa. The temporary measures come into effect on 15 February 2022 and there will be a 12 month window to apply for a visa.

Independent adult social care providers report the following costs and challenges with international recruitment:

  • Accommodation/housing
  • Costs of Objective Standard Clinical Examination (OSCE) training and exams.
  • Agency fees of up to £3k per individual.
  • Immigration Skills charge of up to £3,000 per annum per international recruit for 3-5 years.

Immigration Skills Charge

Period  Small or charitable sponsors Medium or large sponsors
First 12 months £364 £1,000
Each additional 6 months £182 £500
Total cost for 3 years £1,092 £3,000

Sponsorship Licence per International worker

Type of licence  Fee for small or charitable sponsor Fee for medium or large sponsor
Worker £536 £1,476
  • Visa costs. Applicants need to pay £247 for a Health and Care Worker visa for up to 3 years or £479 for 3+ to 5 years. A decision is made within 3 weeks. Those obtaining a Health and Care Worker visa and their family are exempt from paying the Immigration Health Surcharge. Family members still need to pay these visa fees. After 5 years, they can apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain and would be eligible to claim benefits etc.

Plymouth International Recruitment working group

Home – Devon Alliance for International Recruitment (devon-alliance.com)

Also the E booklet below for social care providers that walks through the process

https://torbayandsouthdevon.pagetiger.com/employersguide/employersguide


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