How we support sustainable employment for talented health care professionals

In the Hague, an innovative project has been running since 2024 to improve the access of foreign healthcare professionals to the Dutch healthcare sector. Nuffic plays a key role in this project, experimenting with an innovative form of credential evaluation. Director Klaas Smilde of Care Group Respect is one of the employers who sees that a lot of potential is still untapped. "we see a lot of motivated people who gained relevant experience abroad, but who aren’t currently working in the health care sector in the Netherlands. That's a shame, both for them as well as for society."

International health care experience

In an earlier project that aimed to attract more (international) care personnel to the Netherlands, Klaas noticed that there are many health care professionals with foreign training. ‘They already live in the Netherlands, but do not work in the healthcare sector,’ he says. This is often due to insufficient command of the Dutch language (especially regarding professional jargon), cultural differences in conducting work, or because of a slow, difficult process of professional recognition.

The municipality of the Hague brought together various partners for the development of training programmes and to create opportunities for practical experience. Nuffic is involved for their expertise in credential evaluation, organisations like Respect support participants in work and The Hague University of Applied Sciences and vocational training center ROC Mondriaan offer flexible in-service training. During the project, the university is also investigating what works well and where further interventions are needed, using participative, action-oriented research methods.

Up to a hundred health care professionals

Between eighty to one hundred candidates proved to be suitable for participation in the project. Through speed dates, they are paired with employers for an intensive guidance programme. ‘We familiarise people with how we work here,’ says Klaas. "This ranges from how we conduct team meetings and arrange schedules up to how we communicate with patients. They learn all this on the job."

The project intentionally focusses on a broad target group. Participants’ backgrounds range from nurses to surgeons, and they include refugees as well as regular migrant workers. ‘The only thing they have in common is that they gained professional experience in healthcare abroad and want to continue working in that sector here’ says Merel Eimers from Nuffic.

New Nuffic approach

For this pilot, Nuffic goes beyond their usual approach to credential evaluation. "We experiment with a new approach. We don’t just focus on the diploma, but also consider the learning outcomes and skills that were obtained. What has someone really learned and what can someone do well?"
If possible, Nuffic links that information to the European classification of skills, competences, qualifications and occupations (ESCO). This gives employers a more comprehensive picture of what a candidate brings to the table. ‘It is a more labor-intensive process for us,’ Merel acknowledges. ‘But if it allows someone to get to work in their preferred sector faster, it is well worth it.’

Transversal skills

Nuffic also works with RPL agency Libereaux for the validation of previously acquired transversal skills. This agency issues a skills certificate for employee skills relevant to Dutch the healthcare system, such as communication skills and self-learning abilities in the workplace. Merel: ‘People with foreign work experience are often used to a different way of working in a team which can lead to misunderstandings.’

Structural policies

The Netherlands is not the only European country dealing with this challenge. For example, “In recent years, Germany has structurally invested in the creation of effective visa procedures for qualified healthcare staff”, Merel points out. "They also streamlined their recognition procedures and worked towards improving opportunities for in-service training. All involved agencies cooperate on this issue, such as the immigration services, the competent authorities for the recognition of qualifications, and labour offices. The Netherlands lacks such central steering and cooperation. If we combine the results of various projects, we can hopefully move towards the implementation of improved structural policy. This project is an important step towards achieving this."

Tailor-made programme

At Respect, eight candidates will start on their new jobs soon. The participants will follow a tailor-made programme. They will learn how Dutch healthcare works, meet colleagues and gain insight into their own skills. ‘I expect it to be a great success,’ says Klaas. ‘They receive proper guidance and the motivation is high.’

Apple pie of potential

Klaas perceives good guidance and support, a consortium with dedicated partners and action-oriented research to be the main success factors. "We want to know what works and what can be improved. And we want people to feel seen and supported." Merel adds: "Based on interviews, we have the impression that in sectors where shortages are high, a diploma is seen to be of lesser importance than the actual skills that were obtained. We can help to bring more transparency to this as well." Klaas is optimistic. "All the ingredients are there. This can really become a very tasty apple pie. With this approach, we can get a lot of untapped talent to enter the health care sector sustainably."