GMMH awarded for international nurse recruitment efforts | Awards and accreditations

Awards, Accreditations and Points of Pride

The last two years have been the most challenging in the history of the NHS and we must not underestimate the significant effort that has taken place to respond at pace to the requirements of the pandemic. As the pandemic has progressed, we have seen a rise in the level of mental health needs and acuity and an increasing demand for services and mental health support. Our staff, across all services, both clinical and corporate, have worked tirelessly during the changing demands of the pandemic to adjust, expand and flex the delivery of services to meet the needs of our service users to ensure the least disruption to their care.

We have much to be proud of as an organisation.

  • Living Wage – we have been a Living Wage Employer since 2015 and celebrated our 7-year anniversary in 2022.
  • Vaccination Programme - Through our Gold Command arrangements, we have delivered a comprehensive and speedy vaccination programme to both our staff and service users and have established robust Infection, Prevention and Control arrangements to ensure the safety of all.
  • The Trust’s Recovery Academy , which supports over 7,000 students, returned to face-to-face learning, whilst improving the service by providing access to all the online resources they had built up during the pandemic.
  • The first Green Health Walk opened on the Trust’s Prestwich site , constructed by Sow the City. It was co-designed with service users and staff at the Trust to promote the physical and mental benefits of greenspace and exercise by exploring designated walking routes across our Prestwich site. This innovative approach was proudly exhibited at COP26 - the United Nations Conference of the Parties in Glasgow in autumn 2021. This forms part of GMMH’s Green Plan, which was launched in January 2022 as a ‘blueprint for the next five years’ to support the national NHS net zero pledge.
  • Supported Internship Scheme  - In March 2022, we joined a Supported Internship Scheme which helps young people with learning disabilities to access support, education, and work experience with the goal of progressing into permanent employment. To date, six interns have been placed into roles within their Facilities department in areas such as Catering, Administration, Transport & Logistics and Domestic Services; and one has been offered a permanent position.
  • Breakthrough success of study using virtual reality (VR) to treat mental health problems trialled in Manchester. A national study, delivered by nine NHS Trusts, including GMMH, has found that automated virtual reality (VR) technology can successfully help people recover from mental health problems (April 2022).
  • Workforce - GMMH has been rated ‘Good’ in all areas of our education and training programme for apprentices, following an inspection by Ofsted in May 2022.  
  • Partnership working - A partnership between GMMH, Greater Manchester Police and the North-west Ambulance Service, aimed at improving care for people experiencing a mental health crisis, has been hailed a success. Just six months in (May 2022), over 1,100 cases had been diverted from frontline NWAS and GMP services, with quality NHS mental health support being provided instead.
  • Improving health outcomes for under-served populations - A Research Unit dedicated to researching inequalities in mental and physical healthcare has been launched by GMMH during Equality, Diversity and Human Rights Week (May 2022). The Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Research Unit is funded by GMMH, and led by Professor Dawn Edge, Professor of Mental Health & Inclusivity at GMMH and The University of Manchester.
  • Improving North Manchester – We're investing £105 million in modern facilities with the construction of a new adult mental health inpatient unit to replace Park House on the North Manchester General Hospital (NMGH) site. Work on the North View site started in August 2022 with the new unit anticipated to be built and operational by 2024.The modern facilities will utilise the latest technology and therapeutic design, to ensure an environment that is both conducive to recovery and pleasant to live in, work at and visit. In June 2022, the new development won a Design in Mental Health Award in the ‘Service User Engagement’ category.
  • The Greater Manchester Universities Student Mental Health Service a partnership between GMMH, NHS Greater Manchester, and the region’s five universities - has been hailed a success (July 2022).
  • Achieve - In July 2022, an external evaluation found that the Trust’s Achieve Drug and Alcohol Service’s approach to partnership-working is effective in supporting recovery from substance misuse, and could be rolled out in other geographical areas. Drug and Alcohol Recovery services for Bolton, Bury, Salford and Trafford have been praised in an evaluation report, undertaken by SQW, an independent research and consultancy organisation.  
  • An evaluation of Living Well Salford (15 August 2022) found that the service has supported people to achieve improved outcomes. The service offers support co-designed by people with lived experience of mental health problems and has also been shortlisted for ‘Mental Health Innovation of the Year’ in the prestigious national Health Service Journal awards 2022.
  • CPR training technology In Oct 2022, GMMH became the first mental health trust to install state of the art CPR training technology. The technology, called Brayden Online, combines a traditional mannequin with an iOS application which uses a cloud server, allowing staff to undertake CPR training at a time, date and location that is flexible for them.
  • National Positive Practice in Mental Health Awards 2022 - we’ve been recognised in the awards (6 October 2022) for a project run by GMMH using a technology called ‘Management and Supervision Tool’ (MaST) to support clinical care and patient safety in Community Mental Health Teams.
  • Research - We’re proud to be an NHS Partner of a bid for Greater Manchester awarded its largest ever research funding (October 2022) to tackle health inequalities and drive health improvements across the city region. This investment will support the delivery of important research into mental health care and treatment at the Biomedical Research Centre in Manchester. 
  • Ceramicists from our  Recovery Pathways service have contributed to the Manchester City Council’s Be Proud Awards 2022 by creating a series sculptures as prizes for winners.
  • NHS Talking Therapies – during 2020/21, more people than ever accessed talking therapies.  Across Bolton, Salford, Manchester, and Trafford, almost 25,000 people completed a full course of NHS talking therapy.
  • NHS Pastoral Care Quality Award - The award recognises our Trust’s work in international recruitment and our commitment to providing internationally educated nurses and midwives with high-quality pastoral care.

Find out more about awards our staff and teams have received below.

GMMH awarded for international nurse recruitment efforts

Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust (GMMH) has been awarded the NHS Pastoral Care Quality Award.

This has been awarded to recognise GMMH’s work in international recruitment and its commitment to providing high-quality pastoral care to internationally educated nurses during recruitment processes and their employment.

graphic device

The NHS Pastoral Care Quality Award scheme is helping to standardise the quality and delivery of pastoral care for internationally educated nurses and midwives across England to ensure they receive high-quality pastoral support.

It is part of NHS England’s International Recruitment Programme. The programme supports NHS organisations to increase and develop their international recruitment plans.

The safe arrival, induction, and provision of support for new people joining the NHS workforce is the number one priority for international recruitment.

It’s important for NHS trusts to prioritise the wellbeing of internationally educated nurses and midwives, making sure they have access to appropriate and tailored support during recruitment and beyond. Enhanced pastoral support has a positive impact on both recruitment and retention and supports staff wellbeing.

The award recognises GMMH’s work in international recruitment and its commitment to providing internationally educated nurses with high-quality pastoral care.

The standards which trusts must meet to achieve the award have been co-developed with regional and trust international recruitment leads and international nursing and midwifery associations. These associations provide pastoral and professional support to international nurses and midwives in the UK.

GMMH’s award was officially celebrated at a welcome event for International Nurses on Friday 28th July, where a certificate marking the achievement was presented.

The event was attended by both current and newly-recruited International Nurses, alongside the team of GMMH staff who support them, and GMMH’s Chief Nurse, Maria Nelligan.

certificate

Maria Nelligan, Chief Nurse at Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust (GMMH) said:

“We are delighted to have been awarded the NHS Pastoral Care Quality Award, which demonstrates our real commitment to recruiting internationally educated nurses and supporting them at every step.

“Staff from overseas make a huge contribution to our workforce as part of the NHS Long Term Plan. At GMMH, we are leading the way with mental health international recruitment to help support growing local demands. We are working across the system - as part of a collaborative, alongside other North West providers - to ethically and sustainably recruit, train and embed more international nurses across our footprint.

“Our international nurses have arrived from countries around the world including Nigeria, Hong Kong and India. All are registered mental health nurses in their home countries, and have a variety of experiences from Paediatric, Oncology, Psychiatric Intensive Care and Older Adults. It is absolutely vital to us that they are fully supported throughout their time with us, from recruitment to induction and employment. To lead this programme of support, we have employed a dedicated International Recruitment Lead.

“We are also part of a North West pilot with global accommodation booking site, Homestay. Homestay offers a closed marketplace for international staff to rent quality private rooms from their NHS colleagues at affordable prices.

“We truly value our international nurses and very much look forward to welcoming our next cohort very soon.”

Kahani Awasare, International Recruitment Lead at GMMH said:

“I have worked for the Trust for 20 years on various locations, and I am an international nurse recruited by GMMH in 2003 from India. Working as International Recruitment Project Lead gives me the opportunity to provide Pastoral Care to all our International Nurses. Part of my role is to support and guide them through our Preceptorship programme, Trust induction, and arrange placements and appropriate training. I provide 1:1 supervision and support to our new international nurses to help them settle into living and working in the UK.”

Jincy Jose, a Mental Health Nurse at Woodlands Hospital, GMMH said:

Jincy Jose

 

"This is my first clinical experience as a mental health staff nurse abroad. I have been a qualified nurse for the past 10 years, and was working as a Clinical Instructor at a nursing college in India. As I am a Postgraduate in Psychiatric Nursing, I have a good theoretical base but the application of knowledge here in the UK is different. It's been a journey and I am enjoying it. There are a lot of learning experiences, and it will help me climb up my career ladder."

Once trusts have achieved the award, they will be reassessed every three years.

You can find information about the award on the NHS England website.

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