Dr. Sanjeev Kamath has been working in Paediatrics at Daisy Hill Hospital (DHH) – Southern Health and Social Care Trust (SHSCT) for 19 years. Dr. Kamath is involved with pastoral support and onboarding of new recruits at the Trust, including doctors recruited as part of their recent international recruitment drive.
We caught up with Dr. Kamath to find out how the Trust has been welcoming their new starters!
What is your experience with international recruitment at the trust?
I have limited experience with international recruitment at the Trust – but I have been involved with the equality, inclusion and diversity initiatives for medical students at Queens Medical in Belfast, and following this I was asked to support with the pastoral side of onboarding for clinicians moving to Southern Health as part of this international recruitment drive.
A pilot project providing pastoral care for medical students was started at SHSCT in collaboration with The Queen’s University of Belfast. We provide students with one point of contact, outside of their clinical or HR team, who they can come to with any worries or concerns. We have mirrored this with our international cohort.
How did you prepare for the arrival of these doctors?
International doctors joining Paediatrics in DHH have always been welcomed by me. I give them food and essentials to last for a few days. The last thing you want to do in the first few days in a new place is have to figure out where to get food. I take them around the city to show them locations of shops, banks & the post office.
It is really about these basic measures in the first few days. Making sure our new joiners are fed, comfortable, and able to settle in before they start clinical duties is essential to helping them start their new life.
The SHSCT welcome team for International Doctors have staff from different departments. It is headed by Dr Aisling Diamond, Deputy Medical Director & Mr Simon Gibson, Assistant Director.
It is a meticulously planned out team effort of different people.
The Southern Academy helps with education & simulation (SIM) based teaching. SIM helps the new doctors to adapt dealing with different clinical situations & the importance of following Trust designated protocols & guidelines.
What are your thoughts on the Trust having taken this initiative?
The Trust did the right thing in going overseas to recruit new staff. The team that has arrived following the trip are very competent & skillful. They deserve credit for coming overseas to a new healthcare system, new weather & new accents. Our systems & processes provide support to the new staff.
Find out more about our partnership with Southern Health and Social Care Trust here – and if you are interested in finding out more about international recruitment, click here.
