Nursing staff are being tempted with 360 days of sunshine a year, water sports and snorkelling options.
A UK hospital struggling with recruiting enough nurses is advertising better-paid tax-free in Saudi Arabia to its staff.
King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (KCH) in London, is encouraging its nurses to apply for roles at King’s College Hospital Jeddah – a new hospital in Saudi Arabia, which shares the King’s branding, due to open in 2024.
In a video on the NHS trust’s YouTube channel, the hospital’s chief nursing officer Patricia Paine said, “We are bringing the best of British healthcare here to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.
“We can offer you a once-in-a-career opportunity to be part of a new hospital set-up and we want to attract the very best doctors, nurses, midwives and allied health professionals to be part of this unique team at King’s Jeddah.”
Ms Paine, who was until recently director of midwifery at University Hospital of Derby and Burton Hospitals NHS Trust, proudly tells potential nurses about the 360 days of sunshine a year, water sports and snorkelling options.
A better quality of life.
Job adverts for the hospital explain they are “looking for UK-registered nurses” with a British degree in nursing plus several years of hospital experience.
It comes as the NHS faces a record shortage of nurses and other NHS staff.
Amid the current NHS dispute over pay and working conditions, organisations are worried the offer of better paid tax-free roles will entice UK nurses to move abroad in search of a better quality of life.
London’s KCH said the “majority” of the new hospital’s workforce would be recruited locally.
A spokesman for KCH said: “We offer an advisory support and quality assurance role to ensure high standards of clinical care are established and maintained at all overseas hospitals that use the King’s name.
Before adding, “The majority of the workforce for these facilities are recruited locally from the host country, not from the UK.”
