NURSES recruited from overseas to Whiston Hospital have been praised for making a “positive” impact since arriving in the UK.

According to its latest workforce report, St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust has issued 82 conditional offers of employment to nurses from India, Nigeria, Zimbabwe and the Philippines.

After receiving offers through the Global Learners Programme, three nurses arrived in the UK in January, five in February and five in March.

This month, eight nurses were expected to arrive, although only four were granted visas.

Anne-Marie Stretch, deputy chief executive and director of human resources said: “They have had such a positive feedback on the organisation.

“I suppose not only because we’ve managed to fill some vacancies – which is fabulous – but they are lovely, they are patient-centred, their values are the same as ours and they’ve just been fabulous.”

Richard Fraser, chairman of the board, said it was ‘no surprise’ the nurses had received such positive feedback.

He said: “We’ve got to appreciate, these nurses have spent what to us would be many, many thousands of pounds to embark on this, which is a very hard ask.

“They’re putting themselves under exams and all sorts and paying mind-bending amounts of money to do that, to then come here and work.

“They come on a mission and it’s no surprise to me they are getting such positive reports.”

Mr Fraser added the risk of a hard Brexit means that international nurses may become even more important to the NHS in the future.

By the end of August there will be 23 new international nurses working in the trust, with six to 10 expected to arrive in both September and October.

The nurses are supported in their transition to life in the UK by the trust’s pastoral care programme.

Ann Marr, chief executive, said the trust is aiming to recruit 50 international nurses by Christmas.

Back in March, the Local Democracy Service reported the trust was calling for relief on visas for overseas nurses as it was having to compete with other industries, including professional footballers.

Last month the Home Office announced that it was lifting the cap on Tier 2 visas for doctors and nurses.

Ms Stretch said there is ‘no indication’ the trust will have any visa issues in the coming months.

While the cap on visas has been lifted, NHS trusts still have to provide evidence that it has tried to recruit from the UK before looking abroad.

The reason it is doing this, which is highlighted in the workforce report, is because demand is currently outstripping supply.

“The well documented issue of the demand for qualified nursing outstripping supply continues to pose a challenge for the trust and the NHS as a whole and while the applications to nurse degree programmes have dropped it is reported that the number of applicants still exceeds the places available,” the report says.

Ms Stretch added that trying to source doctors is still a challenge.

“Trying to find the doctors out there is still an issue for us,” she said.