London: Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is set to welcome 42 Nepalese nurses as part of a new pilot.

The programme, an agreement between the UK and Nepal, prioritises ethical and managed recruitment of Nepalese healthcare professionals to the UK.

Hampshire Hospitals welcomed its first 12 nurses this February, with the rest joining by summer.

This is the first health worker recruitment deal inked with a country on the WHO Health Workforce Support and Safeguards Red List 2020.

Chosen due to its strong track record in international recruitment and local Nepalese communities, Hampshire Hospitals conducted face-to-face interviews in Kathmandu in December.

Julie Dawes, chief nurse at Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We are really pleased to be welcoming each of the 42 nurses who will be joining us at Hampshire Hospitals as part of this exciting agreement between the UK and Nepal.

“We are incredibly proud of the many international colleagues that form part of Team HHFT and this programme is an opportunity to learn from each other and further add to our diverse nursing workforce, all of who are crucial to helping us deliver outstanding care for our patients.”

In the early years of this millennium, the hospital recruited a large number of nurses from the Philippines.