Feel good factor

After three recruitment drives spanning almost four years, they bring the total number of Filipino nurses working at the hospitals to 160.

And they like it so much, none of them are leaving. Worthing and Southlands is now one of the few hospital trusts in the country to have no vacancies for qualified nurses or midwives.

Dr Roger Greene, chief executive of Worthing and Southlands Hospitals NHS Trust, said: "They have really been a breath of fresh air. We have learned as much from them as they have learned from us through their values of quality, their sense of humour and their faith. They really have made a tremendous difference to our work and we hope they will integrate well and stay with us and we wish them every success in their careers."

Many of the Filipino nurses have left young children and family back home to work in this country. They are now gaining promotions within their departments and are shying away from invitations to work in the London hospitals because they like living and working in Worthing so much.

All the nurses have to complete adaptation courses when they arrive to familiarise themselves with how the NHS works, although the practices are very similar in the Philippines.

On Thursday, the last group to complete their courses took over their own ceremony to mark the fact they will be the last Filipino nurses to do it. They sang to hospital bosses both in English and in their native language before being presented with certificates.

Espie Keyes, 26, was one of the first Filipino nurses to be recruited in 2000.

"My friends have been encouraging me to go to London but I prefer it here because it is home for me now. The people are warm and the patients and lovely so I can see myself staying," she said.

Last year, she was taken back to the Philippines by hospital bosses to help them interview some more nurses.

"It was very strange to go on a recruitment drive. All of a sudden I was interviewing nurses when I had only just been interviewed myself, but it was a very good experience."

Ward nurse, Michelle Panlilio, 31, arrived in Worthing from Angel City, in the North Philippines, in October 2003, as part of a group of 33 new recruits.

She said: "The medical practices we use here are much the same as back home, but the equipment is more advanced.

"The language has not been a barrier, but the food and other cultural differences have taken a lot of getting used to.

"People have been so friendly and made me feel welcome."

James Montefrio, 25, arrived last October.

He said: "It is a completely different setting, obviously, but the level of care is almost exactly the same.

"We have all improved so much. We have utilized our skills and learned so much more.

"It is sad to think we will be the last batch of nurses to qualify here but I feel we are all very lucky to have been chosen from the thousands of people who applied to come over."