Accent Health Recruitment is seeking Anaesthetic Technicians for opportunities across New Zealand, with positions available throughout both the North and South Island. If you’re looking for more balance, a relaxed lifestyle, and the chance to work in supportive healthcare environments, New Zealand could be the perfect move.
Imagine spending your days off exploring beaches, mountains, lakes, and coastal towns — with shorter commutes, friendly communities, and more time to enjoy life outside of work.
New Zealand offers a welcoming environment for international healthcare professionals and an easier pace of life without compromising career opportunities.
Operating Department Practitioners (ODPs) from the UK are encouraged to apply.
Applicants should be eligible for registration with the Medical Sciences Council of New Zealand (MSCNZ).
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My name is Ruqayyah and I’m an ODP from the Chilterns in the UK. I came to NZ with my husband in December 2020. The whole process took us 6 months from the first time I contact Prudence at ACCENT. She was there for us at every step of the process from job interview practice to providing snacks for our mandatory isolation.
I contacted Prudence on a whim one evening whilst we were living in Stockholm and were getting more and more frustrated with the Covid-19 situation there. We had always wanted to holiday in NZ but never thought we would have the chance to live there. Prudence made that possible. The process was super easy, and the longest time was waiting for documents from my university and police certificates. I thought I would interview at several hospitals, but Prudence knew exactly what I wanted. My first interview was successful, and I am now working at the biggest private hospital in NZ.
As an anaesthetic technician in NZ there aren’t really many differences between the work, however it does of course take a little while to find your feet. There was some medical ‘lingo’ I had to learn but at least we could have a laugh in the coffee room about it afterwards. My shifts are nice: working 10 or 8 hours a day with my weekends and evenings off. There’s always time to do a quick weekend retreat and get back into work by Monday morning. Everyone is super nice, and I’ve really enjoyed meeting so many different people, as NZ is so culturally diverse.
The hardest part of moving to NZ has been the time difference between the UK and NZ, varying between 11 and 13 hours, so you can’t just ring your family when you miss them. However, FaceTime and Skype has made it feel like you’re still very much still with them. We’ve attended one wedding, two engagements and one baby shower all over FaceTime so I think we’re getting pretty good at that! With the international borders hopefully opening very soon it isn’t too long until we see our family. Although it is far (in fact the furthest you could ever be) the lifestyle, the food, the culture, the nature, and the people make up for all of it.
We will be looking to apply for permanent residency when the time comes and can really see ourselves living here for several years. We’ve been here a year and we can say it now feels like home. Unfortunately like most countries, the rental / buying housing situation is tough here, so be well informed before you come. I miss the UK and being next to the rest of EU. But here in NZ there is everything you can think of. From sunny beaches to snowy mountain tops, it’ll take a while before you get bored!
My advice to anyone planning on making the move, go for it! You have nothing left to lose and everything to gain. It’s a beautiful country and I’m so happy to call it my home for now.
Both Jenny and Tim immigrated in from the UK and are working as Anesthetic Technicians in the Bay of Plenty area. With Jenny never visiting NZ, Tim had been numerous times and found a real affinity with the country and it’s people.
Soon after arriving in New Zealand on our 2 year working visas we knew that we wanted to gain residency. We got residency within a year of arriving and became official Kiwis within 6 years.
Tim: Prior to moving to NZ, I had been been 3 times in one year and spent a chunk of time in both Australia and NZ. I enjoyed my time in Oz but found a real affinity with NZ and the Kiwi people. NZ is a very special country.
Jenny: I initially wanted to visit NZ as I’d always liked the clean, green, action packed reputation the country has. The people are so relaxed and friendly over here too.
Prudence at Accent Healthcare helped a lot with our immigration process and did the rest of the relocation steps ourselves. At the time of applying for residency, it seemed like there was a lot of paperwork and things to arrange, look up and pay for. You’re allocated a case worker so the process is made easier by dealing with the one person who is familiar with all your details.
The hardest part is being apart from family. I know people often say “you’re only 24 hours away” but it’s a big expense. That said, it will be easier for our kids as they will have us here and their siblings and friends.
We chose Bay of Plenty because we really like the location on the map. It’s on the North Island so a bit warmer, it’s right on the coast, close enough to other interesting places for day trips, great beaches, and at least 3 excellent pie shops near by. Our neighborhood is friendly and a nice environment for the kids to grow up in.
We genuinely feel privileged to live in NZ. We love the long summers, the balmy evenings and the can do attitude. Some difference from the UK is that it’s less of a rat race. Having worked in the healthcare system back in the UK and over here there is definitely less of a hierarchy/class system with consultant doctors and the rest of us. We tend to spend much more of our leisure time outdoors than we ever did in the UK.
We wouldn’t do anything different and we found the immigration process pretty straightforward. If we could give any advice with people wanting to move to NZ, go for it!! It’s a wonderful lifestyle. Embrace the culture rather than highlighting the differences.
My Name is Lee Parsons. I am an Operating Department Practitioner or in New Zealand an Anaesthetic Technician.
I came to NZ in March 2020 just before lockdown from the UK.
The process to come to NZ took me about a year to move but that is because my family and I had relaxed timeframe to move here.
The easiest part of the process was getting our jobs and getting on the plane.
The most challenging part of the process was sorting out the visas, more so for my wife who had to provide at time frame of our relationship… Even though we’ve been married 12 years. The other difficult thing about the move was trying to find a decent house to rent, especially that lockdown was creeping closer.
My first impressions of NZ were that people seemed really friendly and helpful. When we finally got a house we managed to borrow some furniture from people for a few months which was brilliant.
The best parts of NZ are the beaches!!! There are so many to choose from and that is just in Auckland
What I miss the most is my friends and family. Thankfully there’s video chat.
My advice if you are planning to come to NZ is do it, the lifestyle is so much better. It is a hard slog to get here, you will miss your family and friends but it’s worth it. Like they say the world is getting smaller with technology and faster flights.
Watch Lee and his family make their decision to move to Auckland here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000dk37?fbclid=IwAR2Nom1hOteA74Ow2dfJUwGOWQFrwTkbVY8c7O0HYKoEpUfvxoBY-KX7TYY
Hi, I’m Calum, an Operating Department Practitioner from Birmingham, U.K., and have been working as an Anaesthetic Technician in Auckland, NZ, since May 2019.
I used Accent Health Recruitment Agency to get the job, and they were great with advising on all things emigration. I came on a working holiday visa, however I have applied for a work to residency visa. I had never been to NZ before, but had a small bit of knowledge about the country, mainly through watching sport and reading travel books before I came out. The lifestyle is what appealed to me mainly, I love the outdoors, sport and a laid back life, all of these things I thought NZ could provide. Before I came out, I asked lots of questions to my work, the job recruitment company and people who I knew had been/were in NZ, doing the job I do or other jobs, so I would know what to expect.
The easiest part of the process was the visa application. It only took a day or so, but this was because of the visa I applied for, whereas the professional registration took a few weeks, just because of the amount of paperwork I had to complete. Once I had all my registration, I had an interview and job within 2 weeks.
The biggest difference is that it’s much more relaxed here, I live a 10 minute drive from the sea and beach, 20 minute drive from watching the best rugby team in the world, 40 minutes from rugged, stunning coastlines, an hour and a half flight from skiing/amazing nature. None of these were as possible/as easy, living in the midlands in the UK! Weather is much better than the UK, the winter was wet, very wet at times – resulting in a very green city. But, it’s never that cold compared to the UK. This winter I didn’t have to scrape frost off my car once, compared to before and after work in the UK.
A typical work day for me is a 5 minute drive in, a 10/8 hour shift in a hospital, followed by the gym, cinema, going for food or a walk by the sea if the weather’s nice. Weekend involves exploring Auckland city and its surrounding islands, driving out of the city for coastal/national park walks, trips within NZ, watching and going to sport events, socialising and enjoying the numerous ice cream shops! Nightlife is a lot quieter, it’s more a pub/bar scene than clubs, which isn’t a bad thing in my opinion. Leisure activities are a lot more plentiful and exciting over here!
What I miss most about the U.K. is the curry, it’s just different and subpar compared to home, particularly Birmingham! I also wish I’d brought a supply of pickled onion monster munch with me. On a more serious note, you’re obviously also a reasonable distance from friends and family, but all the good things about living here balance that out easily!
My advice to anyone else considering making the move to NZ is just to do it! Plan for all eventualities and have contingency plans, along with some patience and resolve, as it can require some effort to become settled. Even if you plan to move only temporarily, it’s great experience, a stunning country with a great culture; including a fascinating past and current Maori culture and ethos. It’s so laid back and Kiwi’s are very friendly. If you love the outdoors this is definitely the place for you!
My name is Andrew and I am an Operating Department Practitioner from Tottenham, North London. I arrived in NZ in June 2019 where I began work as an Anaesthetic technician in Auckland, New Zealand.
This move has been ongoing since 2015. We were tired of the struggles of London life and it just became too expensive and not feasible to own a home or build a good life. We considered moving outside of London but would not have improved our relationship or working lives. So we looked further afield and considered a few options ie. Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Australia. But we decided NZ would be the most fiable option that matches our lifestyle and future goals. We came over for a holiday in February 2018 and travelled the North Island. We came to see for ourselves if NZ was as advertised and rumoured to be. We spent the time having a look and feel where we’d like to settle and find a home.
We finally managed the move in 2019 and it has not failed to be the reality we had dreamt of as a family. Finding a job was the easiest part; ACCENT helped with employment and advised on how to take things forward in terms of finding migration agents to complete the necessary paperwork – which was quite tedious and requires patience and time!
The hardest part was saying goodbye to family and then the first few months settling in which were quite stressful with finding a house, car and getting established. We broke up our trip with a 5 day layover in Thailand to make it easier on our two small children, but on arrival in NZ we found out our Airbnb host cancelled our first nights stay for personal reasons. We were devastated so I cancelled the whole booking and started over. Lucky for us we arrived early afternoon so we had time to search for suitable accommodation. We arranged this on the road whilst picking-up a rental and navigating toward the city – all on mobile data. We had initially booked a 2 week stay, with a view of finding a rental property within this time but we were not able to find suitable accommodation, so managed to extended it for another week as our host had no bookings the following week. Eventually we settled for a house 30mins drive from the CBD. Thankfully I’ve settled into work really easily and things are now very promising. The area we live in is amazing compared to where we were staying in the UK. For the rent that we pay here (compared to what we’d pay in UK) we seriosly feel fortunate to have nice walks, a park, nature reserve, amenties so close such as shops and a leisure centre, is an absolute dream. Although we live 30mins out from the CBD, the family can still walk to the supermarket or the town for a shop.
Work life balance is definitely the main noticable difference compared to the U.K. A typical work day would start at 7.30 and finish at 16.00. I’m usually busy throughout the day but this is not consistent everyday. There are opportunities for breakfast and relief for lunch if need be and I’m never constantly rushed off my feet for 8hrs. The time communiting to/from work is also far better. Off-peak drive to work will take 30 mins and peak times 60-70mins. This means less time travelling and more time at home.
You can’t escape the working hours either here or in the UK; in fact I am contracted to work more hours here, but because the stress levels are lower, the overall mood at work and home is better. I find that I spend more time thinking about what to actually do with my spare time, rather than thinking what time is it or how long it’ll take to get home and whether I’ll have enough to do x,y,z before bed. This means I spend less time thinking and more time enjoying quality time with my family.
One thing I miss about the UK is the convenience of choice of where to eat, drink, shop, and clothing and food. Although there are some U.K. brands here in NZ, they are considerably more expensive compared to NZ produce. However his doesn’t reflect my overall mood and positive outlook on NZ as being here has brought a noticeable improvement to my frame of mind that far outweighs what I miss about the U.K.
If you are considering coming to NZ, look into work opportunities and whether the move benefits you in terms of a better salary. I don’t believe it’s worth making a move if you will receive similar or worse pay, as everything is pretty much more expensive here. Research your requirement and type of visa you will be eligible to apply for, as not all professions are recognised as skilled jobs and you may be disappointed that you cannot just apply to work. The application is long and a lot of information is required especially if you’re moving with family. Do not arrive to NZ without savings because there are guranteed to be unexpected expenses that will set you back and may even send you home.
I would also urge you to visit first and get a feel for different towns/cities and cultural differences. It can be pleasantly quiet but at the same time isolating if you arrive alone and know no one here currently. We moved to Auckland because we need people around us and don’t want to be ‘isolated’, which we would be if we were to move further out or to a quiet town. Auckland also has better job opportunities and cultural diversity which helps integrating an easier transition.
Overall, I think we’ve integrated well into our environment both at work and community. Although we haven’t quite put ourselves out there socially, we are quite enjoying alone time and settling in by getting around often and exploring the local area. We plan to settle in NZ permanently. We will be entitled to apply for residency in 2 years after which we will be eligible to buy property. We also plan to grow our family at some point so will consider this in the near future.
The U.K. is a great place to build a career, party and enjoy life from 18-25, but not to raise kids compared to what NZ has to offer. We have more quality time together as a family without having to make the extra effort for it and can plan to do things even after work. Since the everyday stress of running around trying to find time to do quality things together is gone, our overall mood is better and we can properly enjoy our downtime.
My Name is Amy and I am an Anaesthetic technician from the U.K. I arrived here in October 2019 after a three month process.
The easiest part of the process was finding a job! Once I had decided where I wanted to live (not an easy choice to make), Prudence from ACCENT came back with a job interview for me really quickly. The most challenging part of the process was collecting all my paperwork for my professional registration, there was just so much! My advice if you are planning to come to NZ is be organised, there’s a lot to do. I had a to-do list and worked through it systematically.
My first impressions of NZ were that the people are the friendliest I’ve ever met, I came on my own not knowing anyone and I have been so well supported by everyone I have met. The weather currently is also a real highlight as it’s summer! The seasonal fruit and veg is also great, I’m sure it tastes better!
There have definitely been a few significant adjustments to make with this move. I definitely miss my family; technology means I can see them but being apart is hard, especially when major life events happen and I can’t be there. From what I’ve seen so far anaesthetic practices are very similar to back home in the UK, but one of the major differences is that there are no anaesthetic rooms here which was an adjustment to my practice. I’m so used to having a space for anaesthetics so it took a while to learn to share the theatre space! However, there are a lot of British workers here that have had similar experiences to me; they understand the adjustment to working somewhere new and that really helped make the transition easier.
Finally I would like to say a huge thank you to my recruiter, Prudence, who helped me get here. She was always on hand to answer my many questions and help me when I needed it. I felt very supported by her on this journey and am very grateful for her help in getting me here. I am loving life here.
My name is Vikki and I’m an Anaesthetic Technician (ODP). I moved to Palmy (Palmerston North) on March 1st 2019. The process only took 6 months to make the move, but for about 10 months before this I researched why I wanted to move to New Zealand, the difficulties, where I’d like to settle/start and then the planning involved.
The easiest process was choosing Accent Health Recruitment, I had researched them online before a friend recommended the company and highly recommended Prudence. The most challenging part of the process was selling my flat, the sale was not completed until I had been here a month, which was quite stressful.
My first impressions of NZ was the ease of everything, the people are helpful and friendly, and things move at a much slower pace so if you are in a rush to get something done, people have time for you to help make it happen. In Palmy there is also a lot less traffic which makes life much less stressful when trying to get from A to B.
So far the best part of living/working in NZ is the work life balance within the health care profession. Striking this balance is really encouraged within the workplace. It took me a wee while to adjust to this new way of working, but it enables me to do more with my time.
At this time the only things I really miss from the UK are family and friends, Skype and WhatsApp are excellent but not quite the same.
The major difference with my role is a dilution of my role, which in turn means I have less responsibilities and a more specific role. However this means I’m able to do my job better with less constraints put on me by the NHS in my UK job. Another difference is the work ethic here, you work your shift have your breaks and go home.
If you are planning on coming to NZ I suggest a good agency, reflect on why (it’s a long way from family), and research the areas and the lifestyle you want carefully. There are some similarities with UK life but NZ is also very different, but embracing the new culture and slower pace of life has been incredibly appealing to me.
Accent Health Recruitment > Case Studies > Operating Department Practitioners > Vikki – Anaesthetic Technician
My Name is Rachael, I am an Anaesthetic Technician / Operating Department Practitioner.
I came to NZ in June from the United Kingdom. The process to come to NZ took me 7 months as travelling at the same time.
The easiest part of the process was finding a job! The most challenging part of the process was collecting all relevant documents and information as we was travelling Australia and New Zealand and had limited wifi and access to documents within the UK.
My first impressions of NZ were: A beautiful country with amazing scenery and friendly people. The best parts of NZ are I love how friendly and helpful people are here and how child friendly everywhere is. Love the out door lifestyle, nothing is too far away and amazing scenery.
What I miss the most is family and friends.
My advice if you are planning to come to NZ is: have a look into what information is needed to apply for visas and if you need to convert your qualification to a nz equivalent. Consider the time it takes gather all information and for all documents to be processed.
Anything else you would like to say?
If you are seriously considering making the move to NZ then I would recommend that you do it. It doesn’t have to be forever but give it a go. make your dreams a reality like we did. Its an amazing country with a lot of great opportunities for all. I would also recommend ACCENT Health Recruitment. They were a fantastic help from start to finish and the whole process would have been a lot more difficult without them, thank you Kristin and her team.
Are there any major differences between your current role in NZ and your previous role in the UK?
Being an anaesthetic tech in NZ seems to be a lot more laid back than in the UK, your role may be restricted to just anaesthetics so if you wish to maintain skills within scrub and recovery this may be worth discussing with ACCENT.
Are there any similarities that have helped you orientate/transition easily?
Everything that we do within the uk is very similar within NZ so there are lots of similarities.
Hey fellow future New Zealand adventure seekers! I’m Lucy, an ODP, now Anaesthetic Tech (AT) originally from Leeds in the UK now living and working in Wellington NZ. I arrived in NZ September 2nd 2019. I first contacted Prue and Hayley from ACCENT HR back in January with the plan to arrive in early September, this time frame was rather generous to get things sorted but it meant nothing was done in a rush or panic.
I felt the whole experience was pretty easy. I got a working holiday visa, which was a short application form. Hayley was always an email away to give advice and help on the move. Hayley got me an interview more or less straight away when the time was right to start applying for jobs, she took the time to understand why I was moving to NZ and found me a job using her contacts that fit my needs.
The work of what was expected of me as an ODP does differ to that of an AT in that the AT works solely in anaesthetics. I’ve spoken to a few ODPs now in NZ who find the transition quite frustrating as they would like to work to their full potential. My job back in the UK was mostly anaesthetics so it’s not been an issue for me and I’m enjoying my work.
I’m loving life in NZ. I live in a capital city. I live near the sea. I live surrounded by mountains and trees. I could sit and listen to the Tui’s crazy bird song all day. The people are friendly, I’d say the friendliest country of folk I’ve ever met! Strangers, who are now friends, have been generous, kind and helpful in getting me to find my feet in a new country. Yes NZ is a different country to the UK, but there’s lots of similarities that the transition of cultures isn’t so hard. Of course there are people and things I miss about the UK, but most of the time I am busy working, exploring, making new friends and memories that I don’t regret being in NZ.
My advice is to just do it. I’ve spoken to nobody who regrets the move.
My name is Brian Dickinson and I am an Anaesthetic Technician. I arrived in New Zealand from the UK and started my new job in Auckland.
We had been thinking about coming to NZ for about 5 years. I met the staff of Accent Healthcare Recruitment at a Working In NZ expo in Manchester in 2009. The help I received back then was very good, but it just was not the right time to come.
We seriously started to consider coming here in 2012 but did not get started on the paperwork until Oct 2013 when I renewed contact with the staff of Accent Healthcare Recruitment.
My paperwork for the whole process of getting here had to start with a passport application followed by police check and much paperwork to get registered as an Anaesthetic Technician over here. That was sent off in early Feb 2014.I sent AHR my CV for them to start sending out to prospective hospitals. We sold our house at this time (in 3 days), completed on that within 2 months, and had my first job interview at the end of March 2014. Though I was accepted for the job, my wife and I felt it was simply too far away from where we were going to be living to accept the job, so I turned it down.
Within about 3 days I had a call from the Charge Anaesthetic Technician of the Hospital where I now work, he having been sent my CV by AHR. That call lasted about 20 minutes, and was all very positive. Due to the Easter break, and hold ups at the hospital, a formal interview was not set up until the end of April, then the wait to hear whether or not I had been successful. That was a few weeks, once informed, I sent off for my Annual Practising Certificate, and filled in the remaining parts of my EOI. That was sent off around the middle of June, and on the 21 June we received out invitation to apply for our residency visas. It took about a month to gather the remaining documents together, partly due to delays with my family’s passports. We posted the ITA on the 14 July, and received our passports with our visas inside on the 2 Aug. We flew out on the 19th August, and I started my job on the 1st Sep.
Throughout the whole process, Prue and her team at AHR have been simply brilliant in all that was required, very prompt in responding and making it feel easier than it was. The immigration process went very smoothly simply because we sent everything that was required and missed nothing out.
The hardest part of the process was patience and the seemingly enormous amounts of official documents that had to be provided, it looked very daunting at first, but as each one was sent off for and received, one more item could be crossed off the list. I had a lot on my list, but once it was all complete, and sent off to NZ house, that was a great relief.
First impressions of NZ: Warmer than the UK, even though it was 2330 and winter time here. The next day was beautiful sunshine, so we went to the local beach and paddled in the water no clouds anywhere, and enjoying sushi 🙂 lovely!! Everywhere was clean, the skies were very blue and clear, no pollution anywhere to be seen or smelt 🙂 such a lovely contrast to the UK. No parking fees, free toilets and showers at the beach, free BBQ areas, and parks!!! Wonderful, and the people were lovely and helpful 🙂
Work has been great, very helpful colleagues many of whom have moved to NZ in the past, so know how things are.
The only things we miss about the UK are our family, friends and the great Yorkshire countryside with its stone walls, quaint villages, and lovely hills and valleys and dales. (We don’t miss the long queues of traffic getting to such places though!)
If you are thinking of moving here, plan ahead, don’t miss out anything you need to send in for any documents you need to apply for, it just delays things a great deal! Do the EOI over a period of weeks of months and as you get each bit of supporting documentation, fill in that part of the EOI and then you can cease worrying about it. Don’t wait until you have all your documentation before you fill in the EOI, it takes some doing and you might well get a headache!! Plus you will have plenty of things to consider as well as the time comes nearer to leaving.
Is my job different here than in the UK’ yes, in some respects, but in others no, slightly different processes in some aspects, but nothing difficult to overcome. I am happy here, and loving the work and the country :)”
Our Names are Kevin and Suzanne. We came to NZ with our 5 year old son – Juan, from the Isle of Man (UK for those who don’t know where it is)
I was an ODP in the UK, and now an Anaesthetic Technician in Palmerston North in lower North Island, and Suzanne is a Midwife.
We have been in New Zealand since April this year and have been working now for 6 weeks, and enjoying new challenges. The whole process took us approximately 12 months from start to finish, mainly the delay for us was selling our house, once sold the process literally took 3 months from finding a suitable job that fitted both our needs thanks to Accent, and arriving in New Zealand.
The easiest part of the process was going to the Expo in Manchester and speaking to the team, filling out their paperwork and from there we were kept informed of everything that was required for us to make the move. Prudence was a real star when it came to keeping in touch through Skype.
We have to say the most challenging part of the process for us was filling in the visa application forms, discovering the medical input that was required for the processing of the visa not to mention cost, this may have been more difficult because we were on the isle of Man and we only had access to one certified visa doctor. Be prepared to fork out roughly 1,000 GBP for everything. Our visas arrived a week before we left the UK cutting it close (allow more time).
Our first impressions of New Zealand was “WOW we are really here and looking forward to a new start”. The weather and temperature was on our side as we arrived in Autumn, keeping ourselves busy to avoid jet lag we went to the Easter Show that afternoon in Auckland and then onto Auckland Zoo the following day (Juan loved it as he was given the opportunity to shear sheep at the show along with other exciting things we were unable to do back on the island).
For us the best parts of New Zealand is yet to be discovered however since arriving in Palmerston North (nicknamed Palmy) we have been to Wanganui, Wellington to see the Armageddon Conference as well as visiting the Wellington Zoo, Foxton Beach which was fab and an eye opener as they are allowed to drive on the beach here. We can’t wait to explore some more places as Palmy is in the centre of wherever we want to go. We have done more things in the last 6 weeks than we had done in 5 years since arriving in New Zealand as it has given us the opportunity to do things as a family which wasn’t possible back in the UK.
The things we miss the most is a good cup of Tea and Cadbury’s chocolate as they taste totally different here. I guess we should say family but that isn’t true as we Skype home regularly.
My advice if you’re coming to New Zealand is be prepared for everything to be different and embrace that difference, give yourself plenty of time for the visa to come through.
Prudence and her team throughout the last year have provided us all with support and advice all of which has been valuable and totally appreciated. She made the transition to New Zealand less daunting than we anticipated.
If you are serious about the move the best advice we can give is do your research e.g. schools as most schools are zoned so decide where you would like live, GP,s and if furnishing a full house anticipate the costs. There are always sales on in New Zealand.
I am an ODP (Anaesthetic Technician) who emigrated in December 2018 from Scotland to Auckland, NZ after a 7 month process with AHR.
The easiest part of the process was probably getting offered a job thanks to AHR. The most challenging part of the process was dealing with immigration and trying to establish timescales of when the visa would arrive so I could get a definitive start date for the job.
In Scotland I worked for the NHS whereas here in NZ I work in the private sector. There are definitely big differences, however the support I have received from my colleagues has been really helpful in making the transition as easy as possible.
I came with a varied background mostly in anaesthetics, the policies, equipment and the anaesthetic machines are all very similar or the same which has helped.
While there are some differences between work in NZ and back home, even the different hospitals I worked for in Scotland did things differently, every theatre suit has its own little idiosyncrasies. There is a lot more opportunities for career progression in NZ compared to Scotland.
My first impressions of NZ were: Beautiful warm and welcoming and swimming in the ocean after a long day at work (during the summer) is one of my favourite things about life here!
So far, I haven’t missed anything yet as I have been too busy discovering new places and meeting new people, however I think the longer I am here I will definitely miss friends and family and probably decent bacon!
My advice if you are planning to come to NZ is: Take the plunge, it is stressful and you are going to have moments of wondering if you’re doing the right thing but it is worth it, there is so much opportunity over here and a beautiful country to explore.
I came to New Zealand at the end of May 2018 from the UK The entire process to come to NZ took me 8 months, the easiest part of the process was the decision as to where we would come too as we luckily already had 2 very good friends living in Palmerston North.
The most challenging part was the immigration paper work as we decided to do this ourselves as it was cheaper for us to do it than employ a company. The paper work took some time and although complicated not impossible to do. I also think the interview was a challenge, there is always so many variables when you interview, chuck in a new country different work practices, and I was a little worried. Accent however were amazing and through Skype talked me through the whole process and gave me examples of what type of questions they may ask.
My first impressions as we landed were how Green everything was, and how small our little town looked. I was greeted by my new boss which was amazing, and the hospital had arranged accommodation and a taxi. Everyone has been very friendly and happy, they have guided me through the different work practices and cultural differences.
The best part of New Zealand is the country side and beaches, there’s little to no traffic and I feel safe letting my kids have more freedom like their supposed to be able to.
I miss family and the familiarity I have with my previous home. But also think that after a few more months and some better weather LOL, we will feel more at home here.
My advice to anyone thinking of moving here is too make sure that this is the move they want and to jump into with the thought that this is a forever investment.
The major differences between NZ and the UK with my current role is the Anaesthetic machine checks and the scope of practice, a lot of what ODPs would be able to help with and do within theatre in the UK, is scaled down over here, for example patient positioning, and scrub roles are defined as the nurses role, this does not mean you can’t help, however it is not expected.
Most of what I do on a day to day basis is the same.
“My name is Nicola and I am working as an anaesthetic technician in New Plymouth.
I arrived with my partner from the UK at the beginning of September 2015. However, I have lived in New Zealand before and was placed in a job through Accent Health Recruitment in 2008 where I worked in Whangarei until I returned to the UK in 2013.
This time the process took about eight months from contacting Accent again. We had to wait for my partner’s residency to come through, in which we applied through the partnership category and to sell our house in the UK.
I would say the easiest part was getting the job in the place where we wanted to be, this was lucky! The hardest part (which we always laugh about) was cancelling our phone bill in the UK! Some things that seem to be easy, weren’t!
I had already lived in NZ, but was hard for us both to leave our families and knowing if you are making the right decision, but if you don’t do it you won’t know if you have made the right decision or not! It is certainly proving a challenge for my partner as he is in his late fifties and gave up a good job for the unknown.
We are surrounded here by tranquillity and stunning scenery, there is lots to do with pursuits being a lot more accessible. You also certainly notice the difference in the amount of people in the country, with nothing like the volume of traffic in the UK!
The only thing we miss is of course family. Skype is a good way of dealing with that day to day.
My advice – just be prepared as much as you can, don’t expect it all to be rosy, as you will encounter some ups and down along the way. Give it time and don’t give up, it will be well worth it, I’m sure!”
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