NZ health agency wants to directly recruit RP nurses

One of New Zealand’s largest healthcare providers wants to directly recruit nurses from the Philippines and spare Filipino jobseekers from abuse and exploitation by private recruitment agents. Representatives of Counties Manukau District Health Board (CMDHB), a government health organization established in 2001, are preparing to come to the Philippines to initially screen prospective candidates to an eight-week competency course preparatory to their hiring in Auckland. Japhet Vailoces, a Filipino clinical nurse educator at the CMDHB’s cardiology and neurology department, told GMANews.TV in exchanges of e-mail, that other health boards in New Zealand would follow suit should their recruitment process prosper. There are 21 district health boards under the New Zealand government health agency, according to Vailoces. In fact, he said the recruitment consultant of the Auckland District Health Board has expressed keen interest in the program. “They are just observing first the outcome of the move of my organization," he said. “New Zealand is now in short of nurses," he added. Recruitment fee waiver Currently, CMDHB representatives have been trying to work out an arrangement with the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) on how to go about the direct recruitment process. The group is seeking an exemption in the payment US$450 fee to POEA prescribed under the standard recruitment agreement. “Would it be possible to please waive this cost as we will already be incurring a cost of about NZ$6,000 for each candidate, which covers the course fee, airfare and accommodation?" asked Sabrina Freitas, recruitment consultant of CMDHB in a letter to Stella Banawis, head of POEA’s pre-employment service department. The website of Auckland Health Careers described CMDHB as “one of the largest providers and funder of primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare in Australasia, serving the people of South and East Auckland in an area that stretches from Otahuhu to Port Waikato." “Known for being dynamic, progressive and at the forefront of innovative health delivery, people choose to work at CMDHB for many reasons," it added. CMDHB’s own website said it was established on January a, 2001 under the provisions of the New Zealand Public Health & Disability Act 2000 and is responsible for the funding of health and disability services and for the provision of hospital and related services for the people of Counties Manukau (Manukau City, and Franklin and Papakura Districts). According to Vailoces, the organization’s representatives plan to visit the Philippines on the third week of September to interview applicants and possibly send them to New Zealand by October. “Overseas nurses coming from countries where English is the second language cannot work as nurses until they do an eight-week competency work. The candidates initially come to New Zealand on visitor’s visas to do a competency course for eight weeks. There is an exam at the end of it, before then can apply for registration to work as nurses in New Zealand," he explained. CMDHB will shoulder the student course costing roughly NZ$4,000, one-way airfare and accommodation for the eight-week duration of the competency course at the Manukau Institute of Technology. “Once they successfully complete the course, we will employ them as nurses at CMDHB," Vailoces said. Counties Manukau DHB employs roughly 200 Filipino nurses, he said. “CMDHB is a multi-cultural organization with employees from almost all over the world." The Auckland Health Careers website said CMDHB employs around 5,343 staff providing first-class services within its various hospitals, outpatient clinics, day surgical and day treatment facilities and community clinics. Eligible candidates What the group wants in recruiting nurses from the Philippines is to have complete control over the recruitment process from receiving applications to shortlisting and interviewing the applicants. “We would need the assistance of POEA in sourcing candidates, shortlist or organize the interview, as we already have a large base of candidates," said Freitas in her letter to the POEA. The interview would be held at the New Zealand consulate in Manila, she said. The New Zealand Immigration would assign a case officer to facilitate the issuance of visas to the “students." Vailoces said applicants have to be registered nurses with the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) and fluent in English, which is a basic requisite for registration with the Nursing Council of New Zealand. “New Zealand is an English-speaking country, we are so strict about the English language requirements. Since many Filipinos are fluent in English, they will definitely qualify for this," he said. The applicants have to meet basic immigration requirements, including cleared criminal records. CMDHB also promises to assist the applicants in taking up the English language test (IELTS), secure an assessment from the National Council in New Zealand for their registration to be eligible to work as nurse there. Exploited by agents Vailoces said that as a Filipino and a nurse, he would like to help fellow nurses wanting to seek employment in New Zealand and spare them from pawning their properties or incurring huge debts for processing fees. According to him, some nurses going through recruitment agencies have to shell out as much as P500,000 to P700,000 to be able to leave the country and work overseas. “Then the recruiters will deploy them to rest homes and they will also get 15% cut from the nurses’ monthly salary," he said. “Ang mga nurses na na-recruit ng agents ay napakalaki ng ibinabayad, tapos itinatapon sila sa rest homes na mababa ang sahod, kawawa naman. Filipino nurses are exploited by agents in New Zealand," he said. According to him, CMDHB has been helping five Filipino nurses recruited by agents to get out of their contracts that gave them jobs not suitable to their skills and experience. “We have hired immigration lawyers to defend them against their recruiters," he said. “We, as a district health board, want to recruit them directly from the Philippines so that they are not cheated by these agencies," he asserted. Vailoces said his group has communicated about their plan to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo through Rebecca Baltazar of the Presidential Action Center. “The presidential office found the program very good and pleasing. I was then advised to put my request in writing so they can contact POEA about this issue," he said. - GMANews.TV