The Aristos Group

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Australian healthcare’s strong wage growth driving jobs in the industry

Australian wages have been stagnant for months now, but one surprising industry is bucking the trend

Australian wages are growing barely above the cost of inflation but while every other industry suffers one has risen ahead – healthcare.  Wages in the healthcare industry rose from an average of 3.0 per cent to 3.2 per cent and despite how minimal this increase may look, it is in fact the strongest growth in the country.  Meanwhile, the rest of Australia has a below average growth and even industries above the average haven’t grown over the decade.

Wage growth has softened to 2.2 per cent and remains below its average over the past decade in every industry except healthcare.  The growth in wages in the healthcare sector could be the driving force behind the demand for certain healthcare professionals.  Last year job adverts for pharmacists rose by 179.2 per cent on the year prior, followed closely by pharmacists assistants which had 170 per cent growth.

Other industry roles such as clinical nurse educator and mental health technician exceeded growth of 50 per cent while midwife and speech pathologists just slipped into the top 15 growth jobs with over 43 per cent growth.  

We have fantastic opportunities in the healthcare sector within Australia so Contact us for a confidential discussion and refer family, friends and colleagues and be rewarded.

Come Live Our Philausophy

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NHS to rely on migrants after Brexit – Until they train more UK nurses

NHS buckling under the weight of rising demand and is facing severe staffing shortages

With recruits from the European Union beginning to leave the NHS in greater numbers, the question of how to staff English hospitals and care homes becomes more acute.  More than 40,000 nursing roles are currently unfilled amid a sector-wide crisis.  Experts warn three things need to happen simultaneously to begin to bridge the gap: 

  • more recruits from abroad
  • training more UK nurses, and
  • keeping hold of the current workforce

After visa restrictions were relaxed in 2018, last year saw the number of nurses arriving from outside the European Economic Area double to more than 8,000, but with average nursing wages in the UK lagging behind competitors, and an historic reliance on migrant labour, solving the staffing shortage will be an uphill battle.

Mark Dayan, policy analyst at health think tank the Nuffield Trust, said continued migration into the UK is critical.  “The NHS has a long-term tendency to rely on non-UK migration,” he said. “The NHS is also more dependent on migrants than other sections of the economy are on average.”

But Ben Gershlick, senior economist at the Health Foundation, said international recruitment will not be enough to solve the staffing crisis alone.   “A continued over-reliance on nurses from abroad places the UK in a precarious position for the future,” he said. “It is crucial for the future of the health service that the government secures the long-term supply of new nurses in the UK.”

The NHS staffing crisis is most acute among nurses and midwives, with more than 1 in 10 positions going unfilled. That leaves more than 40,000 vacancies across NHS England.  The worst affected area is London, where more than 15 per cent of nursing roles were being advertised in June last year.  It leaves a shortfall of more than 10,000 nursing posts across the capital – a quarter of all vacancies in England.

In their general election manifesto the Conservatives committed to funding 50,000 more nurses over the next five years – increasing nursing numbers from 280,000 to 330,000 by 2024/25.  31,500 of these new posts will be new, including 14,000 newly-trained nurses, 5,000 nursing apprentices and 12,500 nurses from overseas. The remaining 18,500 will be nurses who have been persuaded not to leave, or to return to, the profession.

Measures to shore up the front line have already seen some success. In 2018 doctors and nurses were exempted from the Tier 2 visa cap which limits the number of skilled migrants entering the UK to 20,000 a year.  The result was a net increase of 4,000 nurses a year from outside the EEA.  “In the short- to medium-term more nurses are required from abroad than are currently being attracted in order to keep the NHS running,” said Mr Gershlick.   “The government must therefore ensure that the migration policy does not put barriers in the way of recruiting nurses from both EU and non-EU countries.”

The fresh influx of nurses from outside the EU is generally benefiting the capital, the East and the Midlands – the areas with some of the highest vacancy rates for doctors and nurses, and reliance on migrant labour.  Those areas have seen the number of nurses from abroad rise by more than 1,000 a year since 2018, while northern England struggles to attract fresh talent from overseas.

Migration alone won’t solve the problem. Many more nurses also need to be trained in the UK – something seen as a key opportunity from Brexit.  In June 2015, nurses from the UK were leaving NHS England at a rate of more than 2,500 a year. At the same time, the number of EU nurses increased by 3,500.  In the four years since, after the EU referendum vote, the trend has reversed.  In the year to June 2019, nurses from outside the EEA increased by more than 4,000, while European nurses begin to leave the NHS.

For the first time in years more UK nationals are joining the NHS after a drive to encourage staff to return and boost retention rates.  Almost 1,500 more UK nurses joined NHS England than left in the 12 months to June, but more are needed.  “The NHS is failing to train and recruit enough new nurses domestically and retain enough of those it has,” said Mr Gershlick.

“While the number of people in England starting nursing degrees was up in 2018, this was still some way short of the additional 4,000 nurses in training by 2023/24 pledged in the long term plan for the NHS.”  Sources of recruitment have always fluctuated, according to Mr Dayan, but “there is a level of dependence we have built up on migrant nurses”.   “There have been cycles of the NHS having workforce shortages, either because they haven’t trained enough people or there haven’t been staff to match vacancies,” he said.   “We then need to recruit from overseas in waves to match it.  “In the 2000s when we had large increases in the NHS budget we used non-EU migrants quite heavily to grow the workforce in every area.  “In the middle of the last decade we had a spike in EEA migration, which got up to nearly 10,000 a year, but dropped off a cliff with Brexit and the language test.”

Difficulties attracting new recruits into training or moving to the UK to work in the NHS have various factors, including pay.  The Government has pledged to reintroduce nursing bursaries, worth up to £8,000, to try to entice more students to train in the UK. This would give every student nurse an annual bursary of £5,000 for living costs, with up to £3,000 more for those in particular areas of need.  But once they are in the profession, average wages for nurses in the UK measure poorly against the health services in other countries.  According to OECD data, nurses in the UK are paid in line with the average UK salary.  It amounts to less compared to average wages in countries including Greece, Ireland, Australia, the United States and Chile, where nurses are paid 1.5 times the national average wage.

Mr Gershlick said: “A global nursing shortage means the UK is competing internationally for scarce nurses and this is likely to become increasingly challenging as other high income countries such as Germany become more active recruiters.”  While staff from the EU dry up, the NHS is falling back on historically reliable sources of recruitment.  Staff from the Philippines and India now make up the bulk of nurses from overseas, with more than 30,000 of those registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council from the Philippines.  The UK has pledged not to recruit from Indian states which are in receipt of aid from the British Government, but the rest of India is not covered by the agreement.

And Britain has a memorandum of understanding with the Philippine Government allowing it to target healthcare professionals.  In the last two years, the number of Filipino recruits has grown by more than 20 per cent, while those from Spain, Portugal and Romania quit.  And while the Asian labour market can provide a vast recruitment pool, there are concerns around the ethics of sourcing staff from poorer countries.   “In both India and the Philippines the recruitment pool is quite deep,” said Mr Dayan. But he added there is a concern over sourcing recruitment from less-developed countries where they are needed.

Experts warn that poor performance in hospital waiting times are directly impacted by the staffing crisis, and that the only way to deal with this is through a combination of improved training, retention and migration.  “The only chance to deliver the 50,000 nurses the Prime Minister promised is increased training, better retention and higher migration,” said Mr Dayan. “It would need about 5,000 additional migrants a year.”  Stopping nurses leaving the profession is just as important. Since 2011/12, around 30,000 more NHS staff are resigning each year, according to workforce data.

Andrea Sutcliffe CBE, chief executive and registrar for the Nursing and Midwifery Council, said: “More needs to be done to address the pressures nurses and midwives face to successfully attract and retain the workforce we need.  “In our last survey of those leaving the register, one third cited too much pressure leading to stress and poor mental health as a reason for leaving.

“These are system-wide challenges that require a system-wide solution – including effective workforce planning, a joined up approach across health and social care and ongoing support for continuing professional development both to benefit people who use services, and create an attractive career pathway for new recruits and existing staff.  “While recent investment by the Government in establishing a grant for student nurses and midwives is a step in the right direction, there is still much more to be done.” 

An NHS spokesperson said: “It’s no secret that the NHS needs more beds, which means we need more nurses from home and abroad.  “This is why the NHS has funded thousands more clinical placements for those in training, delivered a 6 per cent increase in nursing applications as a result of the largest ever recruitment campaign, and rolled out a successful nurse retention programme which has reduced turnover rates.” 

Contact us for a confidential discussion and refer family, friends and colleagues and be rewarded.

Brexit: NHS faces uncertainty as health workers leave UK

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The World Health Organisation Has Designated 2020 As The “Year of the Nurse”

The “Year of the Nurse” will highlight the potential—and the problems—awaiting future Nightingales

THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION has designated 2020 as the “Year of the Nurse”, marking 200 years since the birth of Florence Nightingale, who established the principles of modern nursing and hospital sanitation. If she were to drop in on a hospital today, Nightingale would be pleased to see the progress in nursing since her day—and how it is poised to change in the years to come.

Nightingale founded the first nursing school, at a hospital in London in 1860, and wrote some 200 books and papers. She was the first woman admitted to the Royal Statistical Society, for her pioneering work in statistical infographics. While tending to British soldiers in the Crimean war, she made the case for hospital sanitation using a variation of the pie chart, entitled “Diagram of the Causes of Mortality in the Army in the East”, to show that more soldiers died from infections than from injuries. She drew up the chart to “affect through the Eyes what we may fail to convey to the brains of the public through their word-proof ears”. In what became known as a Coxcomb diagram, each slice of the pie has the same angular width and an area representing the amount in a given category (such as number of dead men).

Many, if not most, people today think of nursing as a narrow set of skills learned on the ward, much like it was back in Nightingale’s time. In fact, nurses have university degrees and there are doctorate-level studies in nursing. Like doctors, nurses specialise in myriad clinical disciplines, such as neonatology, cardiology and Accident & Emergency. There are even forensic nurses. Such is the pace of innovation in nursing that some issues of American Nurse Today, a monthly journal, run north of 70 pages.

In 2020 and beyond nurses will be doing a growing number of tasks conventionally reserved for doctors, both in acute and chronic care. Already, nearly two-thirds of anaesthetics given to patients in America are administered by certified nurse anaesthetists. In Britain specialised nurses now perform some types of abdominal, orthopaedic and cardiac surgery. In parts of sub-Saharan Africa nurses are being trained to do emergency caesarean sections, with results comparable to those achieved by doctors.

The changing face of nursing

Nurses will be increasingly tapped to replace general practitioners in treating patients with diabetes and other chronic conditions that require lifestyle changes. Nurses are particularly well placed to provide this kind of holistic care, which takes into account each person’s life circumstances, because they have long been patients’ confidants. In the words of Brian Dolan, an academic, “people look up to a doctor, but they look a nurse in the eye.” In surveys about trust in people from various professions, nurses invariably come top.

What would disappoint Nightingale in her time-travel to the present is that the transformation of nursing has been uneven. In countries as varied as India, Germany and Portugal nurses are still largely treated as doctors’ minions and may not even diagnose common ailments or prescribe medication. And although nurses make up nearly half of the world’s health-care workforce—and 90% of patients’ contacts with health workers—they are often not at the table when health-policy decisions are made. Even the World Health Organisation did not have a chief nursing officer until 2018.

The other trend that would make Nightingale furrow her brow is that nursing has lost its lustre, so most posts are hard to fill. In many countries no profession has a higher number of vacancies. In the next decade the shortage of nurses will remain the biggest problem that national health systems all over the world will face. By 2030 the world will be short of 7.6m nurses, which is a third of their number today.

To turn this tide, efforts to draw more people into nursing and keep trained nurses from leaving the profession will accelerate. Countries will focus more on recruiting nurses locally, rather than luring them from abroad—often from poor places where health care is already crippled by nurse shortages. National media campaigns will aim to raise the profile of nursing by dispelling outdated views about what the job entails. Some may borrow ideas from Singapore’s highly effective campaign, which has commissioned nursing dramas, documentaries and even a “nursing anthem” (in the form of a catchy pop-music video). The campaign’s Instagram account has something for everyone, including love stories of couples who met in nursing school.

Prodded by a global campaign which began in 2018, more hospitals and other employers will set up professional-development and leadership programmes for nurses. There will be more talk—and, it is hoped, action too—about how to enable nurses to work at the top of their licence and abilities. Technology will be roped in to make their work more manageable and reduce burnout. Algorithms, for example, will be used to map the optimal routes for ward shifts.

At the same time, as diagnostic systems and surgical robots advance, nursing may be the only aspect of the health-care profession in which machines will not replace human beings. Even though nursing is shaped by medical science and technology, as it has been since Nightingale’s time, its healing powers remain rooted in empathy and a human touch.

Contact us for a confidential discussion and refer family, friends and colleagues and be rewarded.

Let's celebrate 2020 Year of the Nurse & Midwife – together

HOW TO CELEBRATE YEAR OF 2020 AS -“YEAR OF THE NURSES AND MIDWIFE” ? World Health Organization (WHO)

2020 Year Of The Nurses And Midwife-World Health Organization#200 Birth Anniversary of Nightingale

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UK Govt Unveils New Rules For Fast-Track Visas For Doctors And Nurses

How the fast-track UK visa for doctors and nurses will work

The UK government on Thursday confirmed plans to introduce a new visa for qualified doctors and nurses from countries around the world to address workforce shortages in the state-funded National Health Service (NHS).

Prime Minister Boris Johnson had made references to such a new so-called “NHS visa” on the election campaign trail, which was confirmed as part of the Queen’s Speech in Parliament on Thursday – the formal process of Queen Elizabeth II laying out the parliamentary agenda of the newly-elected Boris Johnson led Conservative Party government.

“Steps will be taken to grow and support the National Health Service’s workforce and a new visa will ensure qualified doctors, nurses and health professionals have fast-track entry to the United Kingdom,” her speech notes.  “A modern, fair, points-based immigration system will welcome skilled workers from across the world to contribute to the United Kingdom’s economy, communities and public services,” it adds, in reference to another Johnson pledge ahead of the December 12 General Election – to introduce an Australian-style points-based immigration system to attract the “brightest and best” from around the world.

An accompanying government briefing paper elaborates that under its “NHS People Plan”, qualified doctors, nurses and allied health professionals with a job offer from the NHS, and who have been trained to a recognised standard, will be offered fast-track entry, reduced visa fees and dedicated support to come to the UK.

The British government has claimed that its new visa and immigration system, which would be in place post-Brexit once Britain has left the European Union (EU) next year, would be “fairer” as it would put skilled migrants from around the world at par once the EU’s freedom of movement rules no longer apply to the UK.

The Plan mentions the aim to increase the nursing workforce by over 40,000 by 2024, and to reduce vacancies to 5 per cent by 2028. The Plan underlines the need to increase international recruitment in the short and medium term, among other measures. The government’s “NHS People Plan” mentions the “significant staff shortages” at many places. An increase in the numbers of nurses is the “single biggest and most urgent” need of the NHS.

The post-Brexit scenario for the NHS may be grim, since it will restrict the movement of a number of doctors from the EU into Britain.

Contact us for a confidential discussion and refer family, friends and colleagues and be rewarded.

Boris Johnson promises to fast track NHS visas for overseas doctors

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Great News For Internationally Qualified Nurses To Emigrate To Australia In 2019 -20

Nursing Has The Maximum Number Of Places In This Year’s Occupation Ceiling For Visas - A Whopping 17,000+ Places

In Australia nurses provide nursing care to patients in hospitals, aged care and other health care facilities, as well as in the community.  Depending upon the roles set in the healthcare sector, the occupation is often divided into two roles – enrolled and registered nurses.  Historically nursing serves as an excellent platform for various high-paid job opportunities and permanent residency visa pathways in Australia.

In 2019–20 nursing serves as the best occupation when it comes to career and permanent residency choices for people wishing to emigrate to Australia.  Australia’s migration program offers over 17,000 places for nurses, which is also the highest number for any occupation in the Occupation Ceiling.  All other occupations are offered less than 9,000 places.

Australia offers both temporary and permanent visa options for skilled nurses who have local or overseas qualifications, language skills and relevant work experience and nurses need to be registered to work in Australia and for migration purposes.  Furthermore a new assessment model is now applicable to overseas nurses and midwives seeking registration in Australia, which has simplified the process.  See our previous blog here.

Nurses and midwives are in huge demand all over Australia, including regional and remote areas and this demand is projected to not only be sustained, but also increase due to the growing needs and ageing population of Australians.

Take note this opportunity only covers 2019–20, so there is no guarantee it is going to be repeated past this time frame.

If you are interested in a “New Life Adventure” in Australia, we recommend you work closely with us with some gusto, to take advantage of this fantastic opportunity while it lasts.  At the moment it is a “Perfect Storm” in Australia, for people with nursing qualifications who are serious about their future.

Read our previous blog here regarding our service offering in the healthcare sector.

For mental health practitioners you will be interested in the opportunities in Australia for you.  See our previous blog here regarding the state of mental health in Victoria and the opportunities this is creating.

Contact us for a confidential discussion and if you know of anyone who would be interested refer them and be rewarded.

See the below videos for useful information on Australia for you.

Migrate To Australia | Top 5 Reasons ! 2018

Come Live Our Philausophy

The 10 Best Places To Live In Australia | Study, Job Opportunities

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Australia Has Simplified The Registration Process For Internationally Qualified Nurses And Midwives.

Great News - The Nursing And Midwifery Board Australia (NMBA) Has Simplified The Registration Process For Internationally Qualified Nurses And Midwives.

Australia is Transitioning To A New Streamlined Assessment Model For Internationally Qualified Nurses And Midwives

This is absolutely great news for you Internationally Qualified Nurses and Midwives (IQNMs) out there – As part of its public protection role, the NMBA in partnership with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) is responsible for assessing registration applications from IQNMs to ensure they are suitably trained and qualified for registration in Australia.  The NMBA is moving to a new permanent approach in the assessment of IQNMs. Changes under the new model include a reduction in the assessment criteria from eight to three.  This change dramatically streamlines the assessment process.  And it keeps getting better.

In addition in early 2020, the NMBA will also transition to an outcomes-based assessment (OBA) for IQNMs who hold a qualification that is relevant but not substantially equivalent or based on similar competencies to an Australian approved qualification (and who meet the mandatory registration standards). This will replace the current need for bridging programs, which significantly reduces the time and expense of gaining registration to be able to practice your profession in Australia.

But wait there’s more.  If you are from a country Australia recognises as an English first language speaking country there is no requirement for you to have to undertake the International English Language Testing System (IELTS).  Recognised countries include Canada, New Zealand, Republic of Ireland, South Africa, United Kingdom and United States of America.

Australia is currently experiencing a shortage of healthcare professionals across many specialties. It is recognised, a skilled workforce is essential to the future success of the Australian Healthcare system and this is great news for you.

Accordingly there are many opportunities for international healthcare professionals and this is attracting talented and enthusiastic professionals to Australia, drawn by our high quality of life, stunning landscape, great climate, favourable employment conditions and the wide range of  opportunities for personal and career growth.

We at The Aristos Group are working closely with employers and candidates alike to provide a highly customised service to ensure we match your skills and preferences with the ideal employer, location and role. We make the process easy for healthcare professionals wanting to move and work in Australia and our service is absolutely free to you. Contact us today for a confidential discussion.  What’s more, why not refer family, friends or colleagues to share in this exciting adventure and be rewarded.

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Welcome To The Aristos Group

OUR SERVICE OFFERING IN THE HEALTHCARE SECTOR

Healthcare professionals are currently in high demand in Australia and this trend is predicted to continue far into the future. In fact current workforce planning projections estimate by the year 2025 Australia’s shortfall in the nursing profession alone will be 100,000+.

Although the career opportunities are numerous and varied, there are a vast range of other factors to be taken into account when deciding whether the move is a good one.

Furthermore just getting yourself recruitment ready takes a lot of work, knowledge and coordination. It can be a mine field deconstructing the process requirements and becoming compliant to be able to practice in Australia.  That’s where we come in.

This is our service offering and commitment to you when you embark on the journey with us.

We are currently working with a number and range of healthcare providers in Australia who are seeking healthcare professionals and medical practitioners across a broad range of skills and qualifications.

For candidates, history demonstrates the process will take some time to secure the registrations necessary to practice in Australia.  It is difficult to quantify the time it will exactly take, as it very much depends on how responsive you the candidate is, and the amount of time it will take service providers your side to provide you with the information you require, such as copies of qualifications, practice history evidence etc.  Furthermore the registration authorities in Australia take varying amounts of time to process your application dependent upon their prevailing workload.

Once we are in possession of the information we require from you, we work with our clients to pursue the best possible position(s) for you, based upon insights you provide us, and ideally provide you with a range of options.  We do this concurrently with the application process to ideally have the registration process and position opportunities coincide, resulting in a successful conclusion for all parties. 

Having international representation including Australia, enables us to provide you with a highly customised and personal service.  We work closely with you along the entire journey.  Our service offering includes:

  1. Providing you with all the information and support to enable you to make an informed decision regarding career opportunities and your future.
  2. Providing you with access to proprietary online resources, enabling you to deconstruct the complexity and streamline the processes required, to enable you and those important to you to transition to a new and exciting part of your life. This includes suites of online tutorials to assist you in:
    1. Preparing an outstanding and compliant CV, that not only complies with the requirements of the Australian Health Practitioners Regulation Agency (AHPRA), but also presents you favourably to prospective employers.
    2. Deconstructing the complexity and streamlining the processes required to achieve AHPRA registration. This process is highly complex and our system deconstructs it to a simple step by step process.
    3. Preparing and coaching you for arguably the most important part of the process – The interview.
  3. Regularly providing you with up to date information, intelligence and career opportunities through social media channels.
  4. Being available to you for personal contact.
  5. Collating and preparing your documentation and information, which includes your qualifications, skills and experience as well as your unique personal circumstances, and presenting that in a professional manner on your behalf.
  6. Where possible negotiating corporate discounts for you with service providers required during the entire process.
  7. Assisting you in the AHPRA registration process by being your “Authorised Agent” in Australia. This enables us to communicate with AHPRA on your behalf whilst they are considering your application, reducing time and stress for you.
  8. Meeting with prospective employers to not only pursue the best possible career option for you, but also pursue the best possible options that give consideration to your unique personal circumstances, such as broader family considerations.
  9. Finding you position(s) to apply for.
  10. Arranging and coaching you for the interview.
  11. Negotiating the best possible employment conditions, including relocation allowance and reimbursement of AHPRA registration expenses, if and when you are successful at interview.
  12. Providing you with necessary information to prepare for your move.
  13. Assisting you in domiciling into your new environment when you arrive.
  14. Longer term career care once you are established here.

The cost of this service to you is absolutely zero.

So potentially the only thing standing between you and fantastic career opportunities, great lifestyle and a secure future for you and your family, is contacting us for a free confidential consultation. See our contact details and links below.

Why not “Come Live Our Philosophy”

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