A band of international recruits have arrived in Bendigo, bolstering our workforce and relieving some staffing pressures across the health service.
Over the past 12 months, 54 overseas staff have joined the health service, making the move from places like Sri Lanka, Iran, Singapore, the UK and India.
They comprise of 17 doctors and 37 nurses, who are working in the Emergency, Department, ICU, inpatient wards, the Interventional Suite and the Special Care Nursery.
Over the next six months a further 41 international staff are expected at our health service.
Our current recruitment efforts place us in the top eight health services in the State for international recruits.
On ward 6C, more than half the staff were born overseas. Nurse Unit Manager Graeme McConachy recently welcomed six more international staff.
“It’s great, we have a multicultural staffing profile and all the staff are settling in well,” he said.
Riya, Damiya, Sruthy and Diana have all worked on 6C for about a month.
Diana moved her family from Singapore, where she worked as a nurse for 15 years.
“There are similarities in the health systems but we have had to adjust – it’s been fine,” she said.
All four plan on staying in Bendigo long-term, after settling into accommodation thanks to Bendigo Health accommodation services.
The culture, weather and community feel of Bendigo has added a level of comfort for the group of nurses and their families.
Diana in particular is enjoying spending more time with her family, who she was separated from for a large amount of time during COVID.
The Emergency Department is another area benefitting from international staff.
A large group of Singaporean nurses recently joined, in addition to Doctors from Sri Lanka and England.
Consultant Liam Hannon is no stranger to the ED floor, having worked at Bendigo Health in 2021.
He left for the rare opportunity of working for London Air Ambulance.
“I loved the work over there but it was a fixed-term position. I love the work and environment here so it was an easy decision,” he said.
Returning to Bendigo, Liam is enjoying the variety of work on offer in the ED.
“There’s paediatrics, pregnant women, trauma. You don’t get that in Melbourne as most of the hospitals are segregated,” he said.
Director of Workforce Planning and Resourcing Kristy Paisley said the recruitment team have been able to enhance their knowledge of international recruitment practices and found assisting our international candidates throughout the recruitment and relocation process “extremely rewarding”.
“It’s been an exciting experience for our team promoting the opportunities Bendigo Health has to offer international candidates,” she said.