Leaving your children and family to travel half way across the world to work to provide a better life for those you love must be an incredibly difficult and emotional journey to make, but it’s exactly what many overseas nurses at Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (BTHFT) have done.
The largest group of overseas nurses at the Trust, its Filipino colleagues, has made such sacrifices themselves to forge a better life in the NHS to support their families and continue the vocation they love.
BTHFT has a strong and loyal group of Filipino nurses, and other support staff, some of whom were among the first arrivals from the Philippines in 2000, answering a call to support the NHS.
In partnership with its Race Equality Staff Inclusion Network (RESIN), the Trust celebrated over 20 years of service by its Filipino colleagues with a wonderful celebration of their culture, customs and contribution to the care of patients and the life of its hospitals.
One of the Trust’s longest serving Filipino nursing colleagues, Sister Raquel Licas, who is also a staff governor and deputy chair of RESIN, made the long and lonely journey to Bradford in 2002, leaving behind her husband and three young children, in search of making a better life for them.
“I heard about the NHS offering jobs to Filipino nurses by word of mouth,” said Raquel. “They particularly wanted us because the standard of nursing in the Philippines is very similar to the UK and we all speak English.
“Leaving my family, especially my children, was very hard, but I knew that to help my children have a good future and go on and do well, I had to go abroad to work as I could earn much better pay to support them.
“I was so sad when I first came to work in Bradford, but it got better when I moved to Bradford Royal Infirmary as many Filipinos were here already. Soon my husband and children were able to come here, and Bradford became our home.”
Her colleague and friend, Sister Marsha Aguilar, first left the Philippines to work in Singapore, then to Bradford when the UK called for nurses. She transferred to London for a year but she missed the community spirit in Bradford so she came back and continued her career at BTHFT.
Despite nursing being a well-respected job in the Philippines, because of the many years and cost of training, Marsha said it was still accepted that you had to go abroad to get a better paid job.
“The British people have been really supportive and made us feel welcomed, and the Filipino community in Bradford is very close as we have a shared history. I love being a nurse here – doing my job well and making a contribution to getting patients better,” she said.
For both Marsha and Raquel, home is Bradford now and they are very pleased with how their lives have turned out. “I’ve got my vocation – my passion, I’m happy,” said Raquel.
Chief Nurse at BTHFT, Karen Dawber, added: said: “We are very proud of our overseas nurses and the care and commitment they give to our patients and colleague. They are well respected and have been a major part in the improvements in nursing care at BTHFT and will help us in our ambition to be outstanding.
“I am grateful and humbled by the sacrifice these staff have made to be a core part of the BTHFT family and thank them for both their personal and professional support. We are absolutely delighted to have them and all their colleagues here, making a difference with their care, kindness and compassion. They’re a major part of our BTHFT family.”
The Trust would love to welcome Filipino and other overseas nurses to join us. You can find out more about a nursing career with Bradford Teaching Hospitals at: https://www.bradfordhospitals.nhs.uk/ or email your details to: WorkForUs@bthft.nhs.uk
Interested in working for us?
We are keen to hear from people from the following categories:
- International nurses who just need to complete their OSCE and who we will work with and support to help them achieve this
- International nurses who are working at the Trust at the moment in healthcare support worker roles and will need more help and support with gaining NMC registration
- People who are not necessarily nurses but may be spouses/family of our employees who are wanting some voluntary experience in a clinical setting, it could be paid work if the individuals meet the requirements for the job they are applying for.