Platform connects NHS hospitals with doctors around the world.

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Doc2UK.com aims to streamline recruitment of overseas staff to support the NHS workforce.

December 14, 2023

A service to help international doctors settle into the UK comfortably and support the NHS staff shortage post Covid-19.

Doc2uk.com has successfully assisted multiple NHS Trusts in recruiting middle and senior-grade doctors.

Innovation aims to reduce the average registrar locum or bank doctor cost to the NHS from £ 150,000 per doctor annually to £85,000 using the Doc2uk.com portal.

With over 17 years’ experience, Dr Naveen Keerthi is an NHS doctor, trauma team member at Silverstone Circuit and founder of Doc2UK.com, who enrolled onto the NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Programme in 2017.

Founded in 2019, Doc2UK.com is committed to addressing the ongoing challenge of staff shortages in the NHS by connecting Trusts with highly qualified and motivated healthcare professionals from overseas.

“There is a current shortage of over 10,000 medical professionals and 43,000 nurses in the NHS” *

In 2005, Dr Naveen Keerthi travelled to the UK to start his journey and dream as a doctor in the NHS. Equipped with everything he was told he needed, Dr Keerthi thought he was ready but after arriving, he came up against numerous barriers including difficulties getting a job, opening a bank account, renting a home, and even buying a phone contract. With little support, he struggled to navigate the complicated system.

Once working in the NHS, Dr Keerthi experienced first-hand staff shortages and the impact it can have on the quality of care for patients. He saw that international recruitment of healthcare professionals was necessary, but found the mechanisms, at the time, outdated, time-consuming, and not fit for purpose.

The staffing crisis in the National Health Service (NHS) is one of the most pressing challenges facing the healthcare system today*. According to the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), there is currently a shortage of 2,330 consultant physicians in the UK. This shortage was significant before the COVID-19 pandemic and has become an acute problem. The report “The road to renewal: five priorities for health and care” acknowledges that the only way to meet the targets for increasing the number of healthcare professionals in the UK is through overseas recruitment.

The cost of hiring temporary staff is £7.2 billion per year. *

In response to this challenge, with a team of other international doctors supporting, they developed Doc2UK.com with the intention of providing guidance and support to international doctors. During this time, they learnt the intricacies of international recruitment which led them to design the Doc2UK CRM. This digital portal supports the recruitment of General Medical Council (GMC) registered doctors at all levels; streamline the recruitment journey and making it easier and more cost-effective for HR teams, while also addressing the common issues that can arise during the integration process. Within the portal, the GMC registered doctors are vetted and validated to ensure high quality candidates. The team also personally oversee the candidate matching, compliance, and support, adhering to WFA/HTE Framework and the NHS Employer’s code of conduct for international recruitment.

“We have supported multiple NHS Trusts in their recruitment needs, and our doctors have supported these organisations immensely during the Covid pandemic.

Using our service, we have the potential to reduce the cost, including agency charges by 43% per doctor.

Doc2uk is honoured to be part of multiple NHS frameworks and adheres to the strict standards of the NHS Employers’ code of practice for ethical recruitment. The company provides exceptional service and support to healthcare professionals and the NHS, helping to ensure the continued delivery of top-quality care to patients in the UK.”
Doc2uk Team

The team also provide a holistic support package for international doctors, informed by their own experiences, to ensure their journey and integration into the UK NHS system is as easy as possible. This includes supporting doctors with their GMC registration, interview coordination/ preparation, visa assistance, salary negotiation, guidance webinars and applying for CESR/CCT (Certification issued by the GMC). They also coordinate airport pickup, free sim cards, bank accounts, accommodation, MPS and more, to ensure individuals can settle safely with their families.

“I am from Jordan, and there aren’t many doctors who have come from my place to guide me here. The Doc2UK team made the transition easy, and the job-finding happened in a few days.

Airport pick-up, accommodation, SIM card and bank accounts were sorted before I arrived. Thanks to the team and Naveen.”
Ashraf Al-Issa, Specialty doctor, Anaesthesia.

With the support of the NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Programme, the Doc2UK team have successfully become a part of the InSites Pilot Programme. Through this opportunity, they are working closely with Chelsea and Westminster NHS Trust as one of the pilot sites and have helped them to recruit 26 doctors and they are progressing to support further trusts.

The NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Programme has supported Dr Keerthi to understand the core concepts of business and entrepreneurship. He has felt supported by a network of likeminded fellow entrepreneurs through shared experiences and the programme has helped him to engage with NHS bodies including the GMC, NHS Confed and NHS Trusts.

“The NHS Clinical Entrepreneur programme is a valuable initiative that helps to drive progress and innovation within the healthcare industry. On a personal note, it provided me with a platform to learn, engage and monitor my personal and business growth.

At multiple times, the programme provided me with guidance, understanding, network & funding opportunities within the healthcare sphere. It wouldn’t have been possible for me to get these engagements and experience by any other means.

I strongly recommend the programme to anyone with an entrepreneurial flair and intention to progress their ideas.“
Dr Naveen Keerthi

Following the NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Programme, Dr Keerthi has become a mentor to support other clinical entrepreneurs and has been successfully appointed as an innovation fellow at Mid and South Essex Foundation Trust and UCL Partners.

Looking to the future

The team are working to continually develop the Doc2UK.com platform and are exploring opportunities to work with other organisations, to showcase their recruitment model to further NHS trusts. They are also working to expand their international recruitment offering to Nurses and will soon be launching the Nurse2UK.com website, to support NHS recruitment further.

“If you’re an NHS Trust looking to conduct bulk recruitment campaigns in any speciality, or you are a medical/ HR leader involved in perm medical recruitment – don’t hesitate to contact us – at info@doc2uk.com.“
The Doc2UK team.

For more information, please click on the links below.

*References:

TRANSFORMING HEALTHCARE THROUGH INNOVATION