Charity to offer English language support to Filipino nurses
A new charity being launched by nurse leader May Parsons will offer free English language training to Filipino nurses in the UK to help them build their career in this country.
The May Parsons Foundation has partnered with Occupational English Test (OET), which offers English language testing for healthcare professionals, to provide this support for Filipino nurses living in the UK.
“I want [Filipino nurses] to be armed and equipped with the necessary communication skills that they need”
May Parsons
The foundation, set up by British-Filipino nurse Ms Parsons, who delivered the first Covid-19 vaccine, is set to formally launch later this year.
The charity will have focus in both countries, hoping to unlock the potential of Filipino talent in the UK and tackle the workforce shortages in the Philippines.
Ms Parsons marked International Nurses Day 2024 by announcing that, as part of the UK branch of the charity, the May Parsons Foundation will provide English language support for Filipino nurses living in the UK.
This support will be offered to nurses not yet on the Nursing and Midwifery Council register, as well as registered nurses who want to progress in their career.
Support will include free seminars and conferences run by OET, to help nurses brush up on their English skills or prepare for their English test, as well as giving them a taster of what it is like to practise in the UK.
Ms Parsons, who is associate chief nurse director for governance risk and compliance at Buckinghamshire Healthcare Trust, told Nursing Times that one of the most difficult things she found in her transition to the UK was communication.
“I always thought I could speak the language OK, but then when I came to the UK, people spoke differently, their accents were different, the terminologies were alien,” she explained.
“That was really difficult for me, it was something that was the foremost of my challenges when I came in 20 years ago.”
Ms Parsons noted that, in patient-facing roles, it was important to “communicate in a way that you are understood clearly”.
“It’s an integral part of the service that you provide – you want everybody to be safe,” she added.
Ms Parsons, who is a global ambassador for OET, attributed having a proficiency in medical English as one the catalysts for her career success.
It is because of this that she decided to partner her foundation with OET.
“I want [Filipino nurses] to be armed and equipped with the necessary communication skills that they need, to be able to assimilate into the new culture, not to just to survive but actually to thrive,” she added.
The foundation was launched because Ms Parsons felt the UK was not “maximising on the skills and experience” of Filipino nurses who had come to the country but were not yet working in the health service.
“Filipino nurses will have spouses or partners who will also be nurses, but actually they’re not working as nurses in the UK,” she explained.
“I just feel that we’re not banking on those skills and those experiences.”
An OET spokesperson told Nursing Times that Ms Parsons had been “actively engaged in promoting the values and benefits of OET to healthcare professionals globally”.
They said: “She shares her personal drive to inspire other nurses to pursue their dreams and become industry leaders, whether they aim to advance their careers domestically or abroad.”
