Visit of the Mental Health Team of NHS-UK on 22nd and 24th November 2022

The National Health Service (NHS), UK has provided concurrence that they are keen to recruit Sri Lankan nurses to the NHS to upgrade themselves whilst working in their international healthcare setting. KDU is currently partnering with a team of experts from NHS, East London to provide a training programme for Sri Lankan Nurses who wish to migrate to the UK to work as registered nurses in mental health, midwifery and general nursing.

As part of this collaboration, a team of delegates visited KDU on the 22^nd and 24^th of November 2022. This team consisted of five members namely, Mr Paul Johnson – the Associate Director of Nursing Education, NHS East London, Ms Farzana Kauser, Interim Head of Resourcing, Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust, Ms Jodie Golightly, Senior Project Manager – Nursing & AHP Workforce (NW), NHS England, Ms Dayani Baiai, International Recruitment Accommodation Officer/Lead Coordinating Officer for Sri Lanka and Ms Rebecca Simpson Safer Staffing Matron, Nursing and Quality, Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust.

The department of Nursing & Midwifery, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences facilitated the NHS team to conduct two awareness workshops for interested nurses at the UH-KDU premises on 22^nd November. On 24^th the team met the Vice Chancellor of KDU and the members of the department of English language where they discussed the future avenues to develop capacity-building programmes for Sri Lankan nurses. The team also had an observation tour of the mental health unit of UHKDU as well as the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), Angoda.