The Indian colleagues work across various departments in the university hospital, including medical oncology, kidney dialysis, hepatology, geriatrics and vascular surgery. After 4 months, the hospital looks back on this first pilot project and makes some recommendations for other hospitals that also want to start working with expatriate employees. The biggest challenges remain learning Dutch and degree equivalence through NARIC-Vlaanderen.
Pilot project in 3 healthcare facilities
The pilot project was years in the making Het proefproject kende een jarenlange voorbereiding. To this end, UZ Leuven collaborated with a consortium of two other healthcare institutions, ZOL and Noorderhart. Everything was done in consultation with the Indian government, to avoid any unwanted commercial interests for intermediaries. The first selection of nurses was done by the government agency Odepc, the Indian counterpart of our VDAB. The final selection was done by the three hospitals together.
For the intensive language training for language level B 1, UZ Leuven worked together with the KU Leuven Instituut for Levende Talen. Now that the Indian colleagues are at work, they receive language training twice a week from the Centrum voor Leven Talen to attain language level B2. The Indian employees do not yet work as nurses pending the equivalence of their degree, but do care support tasks under the supervision of a nurse.
Lessons learned
Koen Balcaen, nursing director at UZ Leuven, coordinates the project and looks back on the pilot project. “This first project came by trial and error. Of the 150 Indian candidates who originally wanted to come to Belgium, about 50 started the intensive language training. In the end, 25 candidates came to Belgium with the B1 language level. Of these, UZ Leuven welcomed 18, Noorderhart 6 and ZOL 1."
The hospital's first recommendation, therefore, is not to underestimate the challenge of being able to speak, understand and write Dutch thoroughly. To avoid having to compromise on safe high-quality care, it is especially important for care providers to be proficient in the Dutch language. The hospital notes that the evolution in language learning is accelerating now that the Indian care colleagues are working locally in Belgium. In June, they will take their level B2 language exams.
A second lesson learned concerns the alignment of diplomas in Belgium. Whereas neighbouiring countries such as Germany and the Netherlands managed the alignment in six weeks to three months, this seems to go a lot slower in Flanders.
Koen Balcaen: “We have regular meetings with NARIC and greatly appreciate their involvement in this project. But we have to admit that the administrative process for the alignment of degrees is a difficult one. Meanwhile, we are 12 months after the file application. We need to bear in mind that it is important to file for alignment much earlier and only then start language training."
Official language institute
A third conclusion after the pilot project is that cooperation with an official language training institure is essential. Just as UZ Leuven works evidence-based in the field of medicine and healthcare, ILT and CLT work in a science-based way.
In turn, we can also learn a lot from our Indian healthcare colleagues
Koen Balcaen, nursing director at UZ Leuven
UZ Leuven's fourth recommendation is to conduct employment migration projects in an ethically responsible manner. All contacts were directly with the Indian government, allowing all parties to say with certainty that the project will have no impact on healthcare in India. The focus is on quality, not quantity. Intensive counselling on housing and integration pathways during the first months is also very important to make the project successful.
Motivation
For UZ Leuven there are three important reasons to attract expatriate employees. The first is obviously the well-known problem of staff shortage in healthcare, but is most definitely not the only motivation to also attract expatriate employees in the future.
Koen Balcaen: “It goes without saying that 25 Indian colleagues are not going to solve the healthcare staff shortage. As such, we have never had the pretence to say that this would be a solution, but to see it as a small peice in a big puzzle we need to solve to adrress the healthcare staff shortage. We deliberately chose a small-scale project. Across Europe, we receive enquiries from other continents to work in our healthcare facilities. As a university hospital we also have a patient population that is very diverse and multicultural. The intercultural cross-pollination among our healthcare staff is an asset for our patients. It goes without saying that we, in turn, can also learn a lot from our Indian healthcare colleagues.”
In the meantime, UZ Leuven is preparing a new dossier to launch projects with other countries as well.