The recent controversial health board recruitment promotion at the Speight's Southerner bar in London is expected to result in at least two expatriate health professionals returning home to work.
This is outlined in a report of the Otago and Southland district health boards' Healthdownsouth United Kingdom campaign to be presented by Otago's chief operating officer Vivian Blake today.
The report says the event, which drew criticism from some public health advocates because of its links with alcohol, was a useful "trial on a shoestring" for the boards to see what sort of response they might get to this type of gathering.
Those who came were "extremely positive about the concept and the venue", the report says.
The recruitment team would be considering whether to undertake a larger event next time, potentially targeting both United Kingdom-based health professionals and expatriates through a campaign to attract people to either find or return to their southern roots.
It is the second year the boards have undertaken a recruitment campaign in the United Kingdom.
So far 11 people have been employed as a result, the latest this month.
From this year's events, two offers of employment have been made so far and a verbal acceptance of an offer has also been received from another candidate who met a team representative in the UK.
Of the 361 people who registered an interest at the expo events, most were nurses (181), followed by 74 allied health workers, 64 junior doctors and 13 senior doctors.
Recruitment costs the board more than $500,000 a year.
At the end of October it had the equivalent of about 131 full time positions vacant, including about 61 nurses, 38 allied health workers and 21 senior doctors. Junior doctors were the only fully staffed category.
