IRMWP
In October 2022, the ASAM team introduced the Internationally Recruited Midwives Welcome Programme (IRMWP). This was developed to support Internationally Recruited Midwives (IRM) as they navigate their way into the NHS and life in the UK. This year we aim to work collaboratively with both IRM and UK trained midwives and student midwives to develop the IRMWP further using learning from the initial programme.
To find out more about the 2022 programme, please see below:
What are we looking for?
Back in 2021, we sat down and recognised that there was an influx of internationally recruited midwives and we were approached by several asking for support. We wanted to create a programme that supported these midwives in their new roles in a new place. We had a lot of interest from midwives who were already working as midwives or were awaiting their NMC pin and even midwives awaiting a decision of whether they will be coming to the UK. During the initial welcome session, we heard from midwives who raised their concerns which included a lack of confidence, lack of support from the wider team, an expectation to be racially abused and feeling as though they were not able to progress. The IRMWP was a programme developed by the ASAM team, to begin 33 internationally recruited midwives from across the UK expressed their interest, 12 enrolled onto the programme of which 4 completed it. There were a number of reasons as to why the IRM’s dropped out of the programme, some of these were personal issues, time constraints and pressures to complete OSCE’s and examinations.
Following team discussions, we decided that the IRMWP is not something we want to discontinue and so with the support and funding from the Florence Nightingale Foundation, we proposed to develop the programme using the learning from the first cohort. We want to create a programme that is developed by those who it will benefit by using experiences and expertise from both IRM and UK trained midwives and student midwives. We hope that this programme can be shared as a blueprint for best practice.
The aim of developing this programme is to:
Appropriately support our IRM colleagues
Build relationships between IRM and UK based midwives
Tackle stereotypes and preconceptions that IRM face
Provide a safe space for our midwifery colleagues
Create a toolkit for Best Practice on supporting IRM
Working Group
We are looking to recruit a team of 6 midwives and student midwives (both UK trained and IRM) to work together over a period of 6-12 months to develop the IRMWP. The working group will be supported by the ASAM team throughout the project. Training, briefing and supervision sessions will be made available for support. The role will involve the following:
Evaluation of the IRMWP
Highlight key areas of development
Development of resources
Marketing and advertising
Develop IRMWP project
Remuneration of £150 per individual
Credited for involvement in the project
If you are interested, please send an expression of interest to ceo@asamidwives.co.uk
Deadline: 30/11/2023
Project Coordinator
We are also looking for a project coordinator to oversee the project.
60 hours over the course of the project at £15/hr (this may change depending on the project needs)
The role will involve the following:
Schedule meetings
Liaise with working group
Regular updates with the ASAM team
Manage budget (with direct input from the ASAM team)
Ensure project remains within scope
Develop and maintain project performance tracker
Develop relationships with external parties
If you are interested, please send your CV and a 2 minute recorded video to explain why this role is important to you to ceo@asamidwives.co.uk
Deadline: 30/11/2023