Empowering communication: Building confidence in the workplace at Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 

Many internationally trained healthcare professionals face communication challenges when joining the NHS. Fortunately, many Trusts provide strong support — and Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust stands out as a success story. 

Read about how OET partnered with Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in January to support their communication workshops. 

Twice a year, the Trust hosts a dedicated workshop day for internationally educated nurses, midwives, and allied health professionals. These interactive sessions focus on effective communication, using real-life scenarios to equip staff with practical skills for working in the NHS. 

OET was delighted to deliver one of the workshops on the day. Education Specialist Joanne Bass led a session from OET’s Living the Language workshop series, focusing on workplace communication — specifically handling challenging conversations. The session explored key language skills for conflict resolution and de-escalation, with particular attention to tone of voice. We understand how difficult it can be to manage challenging patient scenarios — even more so when English is not your first language. 

"It was such a pleasure to deliver one of the Living the Language workshops for the Trust. The group were absolutely fantastic, engaged throughout and incredibly enthusiastic. It is wonderful that Bedfordshire NHS Trust offers this kind of supportive initiative to their internationally educated healthcare professionals – it was a joy to be part of it and I hope the participants came away feeling confident in their own abilities."

- Joanne Bass, OET Education Specialist (EMEA) 

Participants were highly engaged throughout the session and gave very positive feedback, highlighting the workshop’s relevance and value.  

"Very relevant and useful, I’ll definitely be taking points from this session to use in my daily practice. This is exactly what I expected from a communication workshop."

- (Anonymous, workshop participant, January 2025) 

Laura Andrews, Therapies Workforce Lead at Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, also praised the workshop’s impact: 

"Thank you OET for an interactive and informative workshop. The session kept participants engaged and shed light on many of the details and complexities of the English language. The session gave participants many useful take away tips to work on and progress their communication skills and Joanne generated a great energy in the room throughout."   

We’re proud to collaborate with organisations like Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to build a confident, capable healthcare workforce and to empower internationally educated professionals.   

Interested in supporting your international staff? We’d love to help. Get in touch to learn more about our workshops and resources. 

You can also explore our Living the Language Guides, filled with tips to help international professionals thrive in their roles.