UK, Ireland / Nursing staff from Eastern Europe about to 'flood' into UK ? [45]


So why are you referring to them in a thread about Nursing and healthcare?


Pffft, come on. What it is sounding like is a D/M. At least have the manners to ask what I do for a living and why i seem to know a lot about the subject.


What?! modern Poland is far beyond what you seem to know about it.


The same can be said for the UK, USA or any other country.


If it doesn't increase the waiting times for other "ordinary" patients then I'm all right with it (But it won't, money talks). In our country now we need all the money we can get for the NHS. Unfortunately I don't think people should deserve a better level of healthcare due to how big their wallets are.

UK, Ireland / Nursing staff from Eastern Europe about to 'flood' into UK ? [45]


The number of placements that nurses do on their training has been cut yes and I'm in agreement with you that it shouldn't have been. Practical experience is just as important as Theory, learn by doing ect. Also there have been new rules introduced that prevent trainees being more hands on and now seem to be more observers.


Yep and that is fine, as long as places dont become to reliant on it ;) I've seen some shocking examples of care homes being run only by agency staff. At the moment we use agency (bank) staff only in emergencies and I;m in the process of stopping that all together.

British trained nursing staff have a world wide appeal. We are losing more of them than any other time in the past to Australia, US and Canada.

UK, Ireland / Nursing staff from Eastern Europe about to 'flood' into UK ? [45]


Can be the case, but for example it can otherwise be different. If the experience is clear for all to see, you may be lucky like me to be offered a higher position. At the end of the day it would look pretty damn stupid if you had a Ward Manager seeking advise from someone who has more experience but is in a lower position. I'm lucky enough to work in a place where things are a lot fairer. You get your bad places or good places in all walks of life. My Polish staff are all well trained, intelligent and can be left on their own to do their jobs well. Of course I have had instances where they didn't work out (more with my care staff members) due to not really knowing the responsibility that comes with the job I.E coming to work still pissed out their brains ect. But that is not directed at Poles but at all nationalities. Just because one Pole turns up drunk and is sh1t at their job, doesn't mean we can tar them all with the same brush....if that was the case I'd have no British staff at all :D


Again, this should have no bearing what so ever on care. The primary function of any care giver is to provide the best treatment as possible regardless of who they are. Lets take politics out of the question. As a patient you don't really take into consideration who is giving you the care, as long as you are receiving the best possible service you can expect.


Of course, but that's generally a rule we all come under. With all the rules that prevent us from being able to "let go" of someone who is clearly not up to the job and could be a danger to the patient, it's neigh impossible these days to get rid. But again I point out that if you have a good vetting system and have good management who can make sure they hire only the best employees, then you shouldn't really have to get rid of anyone.

Just to sign off, I will give you an example of something that I had to go through recently.
An employee at my work had turned up on at least 3 occasions stinky of alcohol, on all these occasions she admitted to being under the influence. One of these occasions she had seriously injured a patient by leaving them in bed without cot-rails. Of course that patient fell out of bed whilst asleep and broke their arm, dislocated their shoulder and fractured their skull. Obviously this person was being monitored but on a busy critical care unit its impossible to watch someone 24/7. Now what I am complaining about is that due to current law, I had no other option but to let this person continue to work, as long as she agreed to counselling. I wasn't even allowed to suspend her after this accident due to the fact her union would come down on us like a house of bricks. Stupid, sheer stupidity.

Sorry today I'm in a ranting mood! :D

P.s on the agency issue. The agencies are paid a "finders fee" for every employee that is accepted after the interview process. They are not paid a percentage of the employees wages. This way it is more beneficial for the agency to make sure staff are up to the job.


Agreed! The medical uni in Krakow is internationally recognised.

UK, Ireland / Nursing staff from Eastern Europe about to 'flood' into UK ? [45]


That's the same in every country. Poland ain't some third world country where everything is corrupt. Plus as I said before the enhanced disclosure will deal with that.


Yes you can, as long as you do not disclose the identities of the person or the hospital.
So please share your info.


They are not guaranteed employment, no. This rule was changed due to the high demand of newly qualified nurses in the private sector. No point guaranteeing someone a job if A.There aren't any straight away (I had to wait almost 4 months before I could get a placement). B. Most newly qualified nurses will look at employment in the private sector first due to the increase of pay.


That's just BS, you forget that I taught English for the best part of 5 years in Poland. If someone was unable to communicate at a sufficient level to work in a hospital then they wouldn't pass the tests CAE, IELTS whatever and secondly this would be spotted during the interview process. Thirdly they would be spotted out by their superiors at work.


Again, where are you getting this information? It would be highly illegal for any NHS board to pay someone less than the next person in the same job. The hospitals who use agency staff will pay a percentage extra to the agency. Meaning actually hospitals will pay more for agency staff. This is why many NHS boards have their own recruitment agencies for foreign staff. Which also means they can double check employee backgrounds.


Yes the enhanced disclosure also checks the with authorities in other countries in the EU (plus The Philippines, which is another country the NHS and private sector can recruit from due to special laws that passed almost 10 years ago) thoroughly. Polish staff must also provide a KRS form which is basically a police check in there own country, someone can correct me if I'm wrong but I'm told it's pretty thorough also. Though an enhanced disclosure is really enough.

This is starting to sound like another...they're here to steal our women ect thread.

All I can add is that when I post an advert for a care or nursing staff job vacancy, everyone whether they are British or European must go through the same procedure, must be vetted by ourselves, will go through the same interview process and whoever is better suited to the position will get the job regardless of nationality. I'm not there to provide jobs for Brits, I'm there to make sure the patients get the highest possible calibre of care.

UK, Ireland / Nurse, nursing agency event in the UK [3]


As I said in the other thread...No.


No.


No.

UK, Ireland / Nursing staff from Eastern Europe about to 'flood' into UK ? [45]


No they are paid the same wages as their counterparts in the same jobs.


The jobs are always secure, have you tried sacking a nurse when we have all the backing of the unions. These days you can't even sack someone who is drunk on the job. Trust me I've tried.


Show me an example of a contract that is paying less money than a UK worker.


Probably, but their language is checked during the interview process and most of them will have CAE certificates.


They can't get a job unless they are.


That is why they must go through an enhanced disclosure.


They do, there are plenty of places avaliable for newly qualified nursing staff, both via the NHS or privately. Check your local paper, the NHS usually takes out a whole page in the employment section.


Or that they are putting in place rules so that hospitals and private health care firm can provide enough staff so that they do not have to pay out of their pockets to UK agency staff who cost upto 50% more.

Problem the NHS has at the moment are the staffing levels are far below any other EU country. At least this law (which actually has been in place in the UK for years) allows hospitals more freedom to recruit staff. If you look deeper in recruitment laws you will also find that we are allowed to recruit people from far far outside the EU.

Life / To ex-pats living in Poland. Hanging around more with Poles or other expats? [20]

Yep, i'd rather eat a swan than a carp anyday ;)

Love / Please Stop insult for polish girls [17]


Oh! Thanks :)

I just called them bag the heads...

Love / Please Stop insult for polish girls [17]

Sorry, but the hell is a butterface?

UK, Ireland / Not all is bad for Poles in Scotland! [167]

No no im not Scottish, im welsh...

Edit: Yes I'm Scottish...

UK, Ireland / Not all is bad for Poles in Scotland! [167]

For as long as the union will exist, something the present government in Scotland is attempting to change, unlike it's neighbours down south who continue to want to put England second behind the union. Anyway, this is just sh1te talk and the topic this thread has turned into has been discussed on this forum many many times in other threads.

Back on topic. My workplace has about 30-40% Polish workers, they all seem very happy to be here and have the work ;)

Travel / Hostel in Kraków (clean, inexpensive, central location, fast commute, quiet) [18]

#couch surfing could be an idea though.

Travel / Hostel in Kraków (clean, inexpensive, central location, fast commute, quiet) [18]


Problem is Szwed, It's summer and it's Krakow. There are no typical stag hostels as most hostels if not them all will allow stags. Plus most stags will not know which hostel to book so will go to what ever's the cheapest. Best bet is for your friend to book a room in hostel and hope that no stags are there, either that or book a hotel :/

UK, Ireland / Are the working class in the UK now shunned in the 'new' Poland? [53]

It's a dog eat dog world. If you can't live within your means then do something about it.

Travel / Hostel in Kraków (clean, inexpensive, central location, fast commute, quiet) [18]

Yes, I had a very surreal date in it once.....Great bookshop though :D

Travel / Hostel in Kraków (clean, inexpensive, central location, fast commute, quiet) [18]

Best hostels are Frutti Tutti and Flamengo Pink, have been voted the best in the world by Hostelworld.com a few time. Plus it's where many of my female friends work, hence a good place for me to crash if I had too much to drink and couldnt be bothered walking home :)

110% recommend them :)

For something a little less central but within 5 mins walk from market square, try out goodbye lenin, or Tom and Dave's, also great places.

Love / All the good Polish men for dating are taken? [111]


Have ye ever tried to do that to a Glaswegian? You'll end up with a kiss and not the good kind baw-bag :P

Love / All the good Polish men for dating are taken? [111]

Thats just lost you a pint in manchester u cheeky gunt...;)

Food / Eating Kielbasa - how do you cook yours? [119]


They could be, between swine...;)

Food / Activia/Danone - why so popular in Poland? [13]

As with most of these business cures.

Food / Activia/Danone - why so popular in Poland? [13]

There no more benefits to Activia than taking some natural pure yoghurt. I'd goes as far to say it's probably worse due to the "extra" stuff in it. It's the same with that other product and it's advert "There's more germs on you cutting board than on your toilet seat".... then where's the problem then? I don't get sick by sitting on my toilet seat, so therefore your advertisement renders your product useless!! These days more and more people are dying due to the fact that they protect themselves waaaaay too much :/

Life / What is the cheapest electronics store in Poland? [17]


Those electrical items were probably made in Asia, so dont get all shirty if it runs off with your dream Polish made hair tongs...

Feedback / Polishforums on Facebook [60]

It's pretty obvious who I am on the page :D

Food / Eating Kielbasa - how do you cook yours? [119]


Hence the lack of capital letters ;) :P

I agree about Polish sausages, they are full of rubbish and probably not much of what can be considered meat...


Wouldn't that be "a repellent" used as a noun?

Sorry I'm in a cheeky mood :P

Life / Returning to Poland. Where should I go? [16]


Haha cheeky git :) I have enough of that to do in my own place, let alone move to another country to do it :D

Life / Returning to Poland. Where should I go? [16]


Enough for me to renovate my places in Ireland.

I already have my nest egg, just looking for some new experiences :) I like to try out different things. But you also make a good point :)

Life / Returning to Poland. Where should I go? [16]


That would mean I would have to have a child ;p are you offering my Texan friend :P


Thats it, Krk is last place to think about. I know I will have various job offers there if I go back. But maybe I want to do and see something different :)


Huta isn't Krakow, Huta is the cool part that I love to bits. Not full of fake people :P

Life / Returning to Poland. Where should I go? [16]

I create instruction manuals for an international company. Also used as a consultant when they need me to deal with things with English speaking companies.

Life / Returning to Poland. Where should I go? [16]

That's the job I have with the company in Krakow :) Boring as hell but pays a sh1t load and I can work from home anywhere. Thing is a days work wouldn't take me more than 3-4 hours, but I'm a kinda workaholic so need to think of stuff that gets me out the house.

But great suggestion :)