Nurses interviewed on Skype

MORE than 70 nurses from Spain have been recruited by health chiefs to fill a staffing crisis.

And the situation is so desperate that some were interviewed through Skype.

Forty-five have already started work at North Wales’s three main hospitals – Ysbyty Gwynedd, Bangor, Ysbyty Glan Clwyd, Bodelwyddan, and Wrexham Maelor.

A Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board spokesman acknowledged that it, like many other NHS bodies across the UK, is “struggling to recruit from within the UK”.

The board is working with Bangor and Glyndŵr universities to train nurses to degree level, but that takes three years.

The spokesman added: “We need to attract qualified nurses. The requirements have not changed. It takes a period of time to get degrees. You also need experience. During 2014 we recruited over 70 nurses from Spain.”

Llyr Gruffydd, North Wales AM for Plaid Cymru, said: “For such a large organisation, it’s surprising that the health board is unable to plan its workforce recruitment without having to use an agency to go to Spain to recruit additional staff.

“Nurse training at Glyndŵr University has been reduced in the past couple of years and now we’re seeing the results of that with having to go overseas to recruit 70 Spanish nurses.

“It smacks of stopgap measures rather than long-term planning, and although I understand the nurses in question are very experienced and highly qualified, you have to wonder how long they intend to stay in Wales.”

Shadow Health Minister Darren Millar AM said: “There have been consistent problems in the recruitment and retention of doctors and nurses for some time, so it is pleasing to see action to begin to address staff- ing shortages.”

He added: “The use of Skype to interview prospective employees may seem unorthodox but it is often used to interview remote candidates by private businesses and can help to keep recruitment costs down – I have no problem with it.”

The health board spokesman went on to confirm that all the new Spanish nurses spoke English and some were also learning to speak Welsh.