Dr Dilla Davis, lecturer in nursing education at King’s College London and Dr Agimol Pradeep, liver transplant coordinator at King’s College Hospital, have been recognised by the Health Services Journal (HSJ) for their groundbreaking campaign work which is changing the lives of health care professionals.

At the award ceremony, Dilla and Agimol won the award for Workforce Initiative of the Year and were highly commended in the NHS Race Equality Award Category.

Shortages in the nursing workforce and ethical recruitment are ongoing challenge faced by the UK healthcare system. However, thousands of Internationally Educated Nurses working as unregistered practitioners in the UK have been overlooked for more than a decade. To address this, Dilla and Agimol led a campaign to help these internationally trained nurses to complete their UK nursing registration without language tests.

In February 2023, as a result Dilla and Agimol’s campaign and public consultation, the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) implemented the Supporting Information from Employer (SIFE) pathway following our campaign and public consultation. Around 1,000 internationally educated nurses received their NMC registration within the first five months and many more are added daily to the nursing workforce.

The HSJ awards panel were impressed with the way that this work disrupted outdated policy to create real change, benefiting colleagues and changing processes on a larger scale. Following the awards ceremony, Andrea Sutcliffe, Chief Executive of the Nursing and Midwifery Council tweeted “I could not be more happy for Agimol and Dilla winning the Health Service Award for Workforce Initiative of the Year. They challenged the Nursing and Midwifery Council with a clear evidence base & compassion and have changed people’s lives forever. Congratulations”.

Professor Irene Higginson, Executive Dean, Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery & Palliative Care said: "We are hugely proud of Dr Dilla Davis and Dr Agimol Pradeep for winning this award and for the groundbreaking work they have done to champion internationally trained nurses across the UK. By combining evidence, research, education and perseverance with building a community of international nurses, they have helped to support a more inclusive NHS workforce and to address nursing workforce shortages. This is a vital contribution to the NHS long term workforce plan, to help alleviate some of the workforce challenges and ensure we have skilled and dedicated healthcare practitioners.”