A group of 90 healthcare workers hailing from Kerala, who became victims of a job scam, have been provided jobs by a leading UAE-based health care group.
The nursing professionals — both men, and women — arrived in the UAE after paying upwards of Dh10,000 after being promised jobs.
The nurses, who came in groups from Kerala into the UAE since October 2020, had paid over AED 10,000 each for jobs promised in COVID-19 vaccination and testing centres– but found themselves stranded by the fake recruiters.
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Hearing about the plight of the stranded nurses, many hospitals offered them jobs. Meanwhile the nurses – who do not have valid UAE licences – will serve as patient’s aides and service assistants till they acquire valid documents enabling their working in the UAE.
About 41 nurses are now working in medical centres and hospitals, while another 49 would be joining soon, Dr Shamsheer Vayalil — founder, chairman, and managing director of VPS Healthcare Group, stated, adding that the Group has started receiving job applications and inquiries from nurses over the past four weeks.
Sanjai Kumar, the chief human resources officer at VPS Healthcare, said the group had recently selected eligible candidates through interviews and would be assisting them in processing the Health Authority of Abu Dhabi (HAAD) and the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) licenses.
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All relevant expenses, including their RT-PCR tests and regulatory expenses, would be handled by VPS Healthcare as a special case,” he said, adding that special consideration had been given to these eligible healthcare workers who had been trapped for a long time and are facing financial difficulties.
Healthcare groups such as Right Health have also come forward to offer jobs, and Michael Brenden Davis, the chief executive officer of NMC Healthcare, urged the scam-affected nurses to apply directly to NMC’s nursing talent acquisition team for review and consideration.
Meanwhile, Indian media reports stated that the Kerala Police nabbed the owner of Take Off, the Ernakulum-based agency responsible for the alleged nursing scam on May 22.
