Welshpool welcomes Indian colleagues to the hospital team

Welshpool hospital’s latest recruits have been settling in well after starting their new registered nurse positions. Powys has had a number of internationally educated nurse cohorts who have joined the health board to provide nursing care to local people.

Registered Nurses Aiswarya Kumari, Manpreet Kaur, Sruthy Jiji and Remya Elavumkal-John have all started work on Maldwyn Ward in the town’s Victoria Memorial Hospital.

Nurse Aiswarya, who hails from the Kerala state in the south of India, commented: “We’ve had a warm welcome from the local community – this area is a nice, safe place to live; a calm and quiet area.”

And Ward Manager, Donna Jarman praised the new recruits: “They’ve been with us since April 2023 and have settled in really well – they’re a great addition to the team and they are a pleasure to work with.”

Nurse Manpreet, who is from the Punjab state of India, commented: “We have noticed that community hospital nursing is different in quite a few ways to my home. In community hospitals, surgery would be taking place, for example hysterectomies and c-sections whereas here I notice we are providing care to a lot more people with dementia.”

And Nurse Sruthy, who also hails from Kerala, explained that there would always be a GP in every community hospital on a 24/7 basis in her home state.

They have found discharge arrangements are more complex in Wales, too: “It is usually the family who are going to be looking after the patient after they leave so it’s mainly just a conversation with the family about the patients’ aftercare rather than the process we have here,” said Nurse Aiswarya.

The Welshpool nurses are the second cluster of internationally educated nurses to join the health board in the North of Powys. The latest recruitment phase has seen the arrival of nurses to Newtown with plans for onboarding to Machynlleth later this year.

Zoe Clent Community Services Manager for north Powys commented: “It is fantastic to see our colleagues join us in PTHB community hospitals. They bring a wealth of nursing knowledge and expertise and every cohort allows continued support to our existing overseas nurses which will support retention of these valued staff members”

Photo: New team members at Welshpool; (from left) Registered Nurses Aiswarya, Manpreet and Sruthy. (Nurse Remya was not available for the photo.)