Job postings for nursing personnel are also allegedly being placed by HMC, as the UK’s NHS reporting a shortage of around 40,000 nurses by next year.
Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) is recruiting paramedics from the United Kingdom’s National Health Service (NHS) for the upcoming World Cup, according to British media.
The offer is allegedly a £6,000 tax-free monthly salary, the equivalent of QAR 25,842, and includes free accommodation and air tickets, reports say. This is nearly three times what the average UK paramedic makes after tax and National Insurance deductions.
“The salaries offered are reflective of appreciation of years of education, training and hard work put in. Here they expect us to work on good will and putting patients first regardless of how little we get paid,” said Sarah, a Specialist Cardiac Physiologist for the NHS who accepted HMC’s offer.
NHS is an umbrella term for the United Kingdom’s publicly funded healthcare system, and has been funded by general taxation since 1948.
The NHS is facing a worsening staffing crisis, with the number of unfilled positions in England’s health services rising to 110,192, according to recent quarterly data for health service vacancies published by NHS Digital in march of this year.
The shortages include 39,652 nurses and 8,158 doctors.
Sarah told Doha News that the publicly funded British healthcare system has struggled due to “poor funding, therefore we end up working with old equipment.
“This affects how we deliver care, if any inconvenience happens we are the first to be blamed, never the fact that we are not being supported by management or even the government.”
According to British media, a series of job postings for medical experts in the UK, South Africa, and Canada have been found.
They were advertised online by medical recruitment organisations claiming to represent the Hamad Medical Corporation, Qatar’s largest provider of health care services.
In June, one NHS employee asked colleagues on the social media site Reddit for advice on whether to accept a ‘6K a month’ job to assist out at the World Cup.
The father of another paramedic, who turned it down, told British media that “she didn’t feel it was right for her, but a number of her colleagues have given the offer serious consideration. People are trying to use up their holiday entitlements to make it work.”
“Qatar will be an opportunity for a more stable and efficient work life, a country with a high GDP will not make cuts in the most important sector, healthcare,” said Sarah.
Job postings for nursing personnel are also allegedly being placed by HMC, as the NHS in the UK reported an expected shortage of around 40,000 nurses by next year.
Qatar is gearing up to host more than 1.5 million visitors for the FIFA World Cup later this year – the first such global sporting event to come to the Middle East.
Authorities in Qatar have taken on a number of measures in a bid to improve and protect the country’s healthcare system during the World Cup – which is set to kick on 20 November and last for an entire month.
Doha News has contacted Qatar’s Ministry of Public Health but has yet to receive a response.
