Jordanian nurses will soon be working at one of London’s top private hospitals, joining the hundreds of Jordanian doctors currently working in the British healthcare sector.
Cleveland Clinic London will recruit nurses from the Jordanian Nursing Council “in the very near future”, after a partnership agreement was signed in April, according to Jordanian ambassador to the UK Manar Dabbas.
Nurses that are qualified and registered with the JNC and Britain's Nursing and Midwifery Council will be able to apply to work at CCL.
About 1,600 Jordanian doctors are already registered in the UK, with 1,200 practicing across the country. “This a testament to the level of Jordanian talent in the health sector,” Mr Dabbas said at the Arab British Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday.
Britain's National Health Service is facing staff shortages, with the Royal College of Nursing predicting that NHS England will be 10,000 nurses short by the end of this year.
An investigation by The National found that at least one healthcare professional a day leaves the NHS to work in the Middle East.
By “showcasing” Jordanian talent at the hospital, the country hopes to attract more medical tourism to Amman, Mr Dabbas said.
Previous attempts to encourage the UK to send overseas patients to Jordan for treatment were unsuccessful, because it would not be covered by the NHS.
“Given its complicated structure, [the NHS] does not really allow to explore such a possibility. We've tried this before,” the ambassador said.
“We felt the best course of action is to bring Jordanian talent here to showcase how talented our nurses are in our part of the world.
“That will hopefully lead to further exploration and showcasing of what other benefits can be achieved through this partnership.”
Amman is also looking at “other areas of co-operation” involving the hundreds of Jordanian doctors working in the UK, Mr Dabbas said.
CCL president Rob Lorenz said the cross-border collaboration was important in light of a “great global demand” for nursing caregivers.
“This agreement represents a shared vision to advancing world-class health care by fostering international collaboration in developing resources with great global demand: nursing caregivers,” he said in April.
The agreement will create opportunities for “knowledge exchange, drive innovation and enhance patient care,” said Sheila Miller, chief nursing officer at CCL.
