NHS pastoral care award for trust

Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust has been awarded the NHS Pastoral Care Quality Award for providing best practice pastoral care for international nurses.

In a letter to the Trust, Dame Ruth May, Chief Nursing Officer for England, praised its work saying: “We are delighted to congratulate you and your team on achieving the NHS Pastoral Care Quality Award.

“Thank you for your ongoing commitment to providing best practice pastoral support to internationally educated nurses.

“This award recognises the incredible work being carried out in your trust to ensure these colleagues receive enhanced and tailored pastoral care as they start their NHS journey and onwards in their career.”

Launched in March 2022, the NHS Pastoral Care Quality Award scheme is helping to standardise the quality and delivery of pastoral care for internationally educated nurses and midwives across England to ensure they receive high-quality pastoral support.

Through the scheme, NHS trusts can apply for a quality award based on their international recruitment practices for nurses and midwives.

To achieve the award, they must successfully meet a set of standards for best practice pastoral care, which have been co-developed with regional and trust international recruitment leads and international nursing and midwifery associations.

In addition, trusts must also demonstrate a commitment to supporting internationally educated nurses and midwives at every stage of their recruitment and beyond.

Kate Howard, Chief Nurse at Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust, said: “This is a fantastic achievement and I’d like to express my thanks to everyone at CCS who’s committed to supporting the wellbeing of our international recruits across the Trust.

“We know that enhanced pastoral support has a positive impact on both recruitment and retention and also supports staff wellbeing, and I’m incredibly proud of the work that’s been undertaken to ensure the safe arrival, induction and ongoing support for our internationally educated or recruited colleagues.”