Helping refugee healthcare professionals return to clinical practice

Key benefits and outcomes

By supporting qualified professionals to return to clinical practice, the programme helps address workforce shortages while making better use of existing skills and experience. It also contributes to a more diverse workforce, strengthening cultural competence and supporting organisations to meet the needs of increasingly diverse communities.

The programme enhances patient experience by enabling culturally competent care and helps reduce barriers to accessing healthcare for underserved populations. Through its partnership-based approach, ReSTORE brings together healthcare, education, employment and voluntary sector organisations to create a more coordinated workforce development model.

In addition, the programme offers a cost-effective workforce supply route compared with traditional recruitment and training pathways, while enabling refugee healthcare professionals to rebuild their careers, utilise their professional skills and contribute meaningfully to the NHS.

The programme's impact extends beyond healthcare workforce development. By supporting refugee healthcare professionals into sustainable employment, ReSTORE improves financial wellbeing, promotes social integration, strengthens local communities and contributes to regional economic growth.

ReSTORE has also become a nationally and internationally recognised model of excellence in refugee integration and inclusive workforce development. The programme was invited to present at the G7 Expert Series in June 2025, showcasing success stories and best practice in workforce inclusion, and has received recognition through award-winning achievements, invitations to Buckingham Palace, and the prestigious Dame Elizabeth Anionwu Award for Inclusivity at the Nursing Times Awards in October 2025. These achievements highlight ReSTORE's contribution to advancing equality, diversity and inclusion, reducing health inequalities, and creating sustainable pathways for refugee healthcare professionals to return to practice within the NHS.

What the organisation faced

Refugee healthcare professionals face a range of complex barriers when seeking to return to regulated healthcare professions in the UK. Many experience lengthy asylum processes, with decisions sometimes taking up to ten years. During this time, they can lose professional confidence and find it difficult to maintain clinical skills.

Additional challenges include limited access to clear professional registration pathways and guidance, language proficiency requirements, unfamiliarity with UK healthcare systems and clinical practices, and financial barriers that restrict access to training, professional development, and exam preparation. Many individuals have also experienced trauma and displacement, which can have a lasting impact on their wellbeing and ability to pursue employment. 

As a result, highly qualified healthcare professionals have been unable to practise in their chosen fields, often remaining unemployed or working in non-clinical roles despite their skills and experience. This represents a significant loss of talent for the NHS at a time of ongoing workforce shortages.

What the organisation did

Established in April 2023, ReSTORE initially supported refugee nurses and midwives before expanding to include allied health professionals.

Led by a programme team with lived experience of forced migration, the programme combines practical employability support with a compassionate, trauma-informed approach. Through strong partnerships with NHS England, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), local council, local NHS trusts, universities and voluntary sector organisations, the programme enables refugee healthcare professionals to contribute their skills to the NHS workforce while improving patient care and reducing health inequalities.

The programme begins with an assessment of participants’ eligibility and qualifications, ensuring alignment with Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) and allied health professional regulatory requirements.

To address language barriers, ReSTORE provides funded English language training, including dedicated preparation for the Occupational English Test (OET) and English Language Functional Skills level 2. 

Nurses are supported throughout the NMC registration process, including preparation for and completion of the Computer Based Test (CBT) and the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE). 

Recognising the importance of UK healthcare experience, the programme offers volunteering and placement opportunities across five NHS trusts in South Yorkshire, as well as access to healthcare support worker roles that enable participants to build relevant experience and confidence in UK clinical settings. Alongside this, participants receive clinical exam preparation, professional registration support, and trauma-informed pastoral care that acknowledges the impact of forced migration and supports their overall wellbeing.

Participants also receive tailored employability support delivered in partnership with DWP advisors, helping them develop job-search skills and navigate recruitment processes.

This collaborative approach ensures participants receive coordinated support throughout the employment and registration pathway.

Results and benefits

Since its launch in 2023, ReSTORE has:

• Supported 53 refugee healthcare professionals to progress towards employment and professional registration in the NHS.
• Enabled 11 nurses and one midwife to achieve full professional registration and secure NHS hospital roles across the region.
• Supported a further seven nurses to progress through NMC registration requirements, with completion expected by November 2026.
• Supported one doctor and one physiotherapist to begin their careers as registered healthcare professionals in the UK. 

The programme has also created clear routes into the NHS through volunteering placements, healthcare support worker roles and professional registration pathways. These opportunities have enabled participants to gain UK healthcare experience, build professional confidence and develop the skills needed for long-term career progression. 

Participating NHS organisations have benefited from an expanded talent pipeline and increased workforce capacity, while participants have reported improved employability, wellbeing and confidence through supported progression into healthcare careers. The programme has also demonstrated a scalable and replicable model for supporting refugee healthcare professionals into clinical roles, providing a framework that could be adopted in other regions facing similar workforce challenges. 

Overcoming obstacles

The programme successfully addressed a number of significant challenges through innovative, collaborative approaches. To help participants navigate complex registration and employment processes, ReSTORE developed strong partnerships with regulators, NHS employers and other key stakeholders to help participants navigate requirements more effectively and access clear routes back into practice. 

To overcome language barriers, the programme secured funding for English language training and provided tailored support to help participants prepare for professional examinations.

A lack of UK work experience was addressed through the creation of volunteering, placement and paid employment opportunities within NHS settings, enabling participants to gain valuable experience, build confidence and demonstrate their skills to prospective employers. 

The programme also recognised that many participants had experienced trauma as a result of forced migration and displacement, and therefore embedded trauma-informed support throughout all aspects of delivery to promote wellbeing and sustained engagement.

Funding challenges were mitigated through a multi-agency approach that brought together resources and expertise from a range of partners, including the DWP and local funding streams. In addition, ReSTORE invested in developing trusted relationships with local NHS organisations, helping to secure employer buy-in and create meaningful opportunities for participants. 

Takeaway tips

• Develop joined-up partnerships across health, employment, and voluntary sectors to deliver holistic support
• Embed trauma-informed approaches to improve engagement and long-term outcomes
• Provide clear, structured pathways to professional registration and employment
• Invest in language and employability support early in the process
• Build strong relationships with local NHS organisations to create meaningful placement and job opportunities
• Recognise and leverage the skills and lived experience of refugee healthcare professionals
• Demonstrate cost-effectiveness to secure ongoing stakeholder support
• Share impact and learning through regional, national and international networks to influence wider workforce inclusion and refugee integration strategies.