Staff from 100 countries working at Devon hospital

Consultant cardiologist Ash Kotecha (right) said he wanted to work in the NHS because it was based on clinical need, not on affordability

People from 100 different countries are working for a hospital trust in Devon.

The Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (RDUH) said it had a steady stream of international recruitment.

Chief People Officer Hannah Foster said: "There's a shortage of a lot of clinical skills that we need in a lot of specialist areas.

"By recruiting people from around the world, they can help us address those long waits and meet those patient needs."

Ash Kotecha said he had been in the UK 22 years

International clinicians hired to roles in Devon include consultant cardiologist Ash Kotecha who has worked in the NHS since 2003 and at the Royal Devon and Exeter (RD&E) Hospital for 15 years.

Originally from India, he said: "The journey hasn't been easy. As an international graduate, you work hard. There are prejudices and biases you have to overcome."

But he said many health care staff wanted to work in the NHS because it was based on clinical need, not on whether a person could afford it.

He said he had been in the UK for 22 years and had seen significant changes in the support that was offered in the NHS.

But he thought there was still a way to go: "There is still room for changes in the mindset, the biases - conscious and unconscious - and the prejudices that we have."

Eddy Hernaez, originally from the Philippines, is an advanced ear, nose and throat (ENT) nurse at the RD&E

Eddy Hernaez, an advanced ear, nose and throat (ENT) nurse at the RD&E is originally from the Philippines.

He said: "Being different is sometimes challenging, but whatever obstacles you have experienced will make you stronger because you have value.

"Being able to work in a dynamic environment where there is good support and you are listened to makes a massive difference."

Workforce estimates from the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford show the percentage of people working in direct care who were not born in the UK before the year 2000 was 5%, compared to 60% in 2022 onwards.

Managing director of Southern Healthcare Geoffrey Cox said his company employed 70 international staff across four care homes in Devon who were mainly from India.

He said: "They have been incredibly good; dedicated, hard working and integrated with the team."

Southern Healthcare employs 70 international staff, mainly from India

However, he added that Home Office requirements for foreign staff were very "exacting".

He said: "If you have a sponsorship licence, you are liable to be inspected by them at any time and they are very thorough. That is quite disturbing.

"The rules seem to be tightening up to make it quite specific on what a person is doing, and any deviation or failure to notify them of some details - which may seem quite irrelevant or not particularly important - would be deemed as a non-compliance and you would risk your sponsorship licence and those people would lose their job."

Mr Cox said they had had to sub-contract their recruitment to a specialist firm in London to make sure they were compliant and "that's very expensive".

A government spokesperson said some employers in the social care sector had been abusing the visa system.

"That is why we have introduced new measures, aimed at ensuring there is compliance with sponsorship and preventing exploitation," they said.

"We are also taking significant actions to support the rising demands of the sector.

"We are increasing Carer's Allowance earnings threshold by over £2,300 - the biggest rise since the 1970s – and launched an adult social care recruitment campaign, motivating suitable candidates to apply."