LONDON - The UK government has decided that the NHS will no longer recruit foreign nurses for junior posts. This vacancy has now been struck off from the Home Office shortage occupation list.
However foreign nurses can be recruited only if there is no UK nurse or a nurse from the EEA (European Economic Area) fit for the job. Health Minister Lord Warner explained that the recruitment strategy of using international nurses was a short-term measure.
"The aim of the NHS has always been to look towards home-grown staff in the first instance and have a diverse workforce that reflects local communities," he added. "The NHS has seen historical levels of investment and a period of expansions in the nursing workforce since 1997 in order to help reduce waiting times, improve access to services and ensure high quality treatment and care." Warner added that the recruitment and retention strategies were bearing fruit.
But the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has slammed this move and said that it would be impossible to fill in the posts on homegrown nurses alone. "International nurses have always been there for the UK in times of need, and it beggars belief that they are now being made scapegoats for the current deficits crisis," said Dr Beverly Malone, RCN general secretary. "Removing nursing from the list of recognized shortage professions is short-termism in the worst possible sense. We know that the vast majority of international nurses are employed in bands five and six, the very bands which are going to be affected." She added that the move, if it was passed would have far-reaching implications for nursing in the UK.
Britain has increasing gravitated towards preserving local hegemony in health centers. Recently the work permit measure was introduced through which only local or EU doctors were eligible for training posts. But if expert opinion is to be believed the latest move is a myopic one. "Over 150,000 nurses are due to retire in the next five to 10 years and we will not replace them all with home-grown nurses alone," said Malone.
Even Shadow Health Minister Andrew Murrison attacked the move. "Demographic changes over the next ten years mean that there will be a continuing need for the ethical recruitment of healthcare professionals from abroad, including nurses," he stressed. "This move is presumably designed to save the government's blushes as hospitals cut jobs and freeze nursing posts in a desperate attempt to resolve deficits."
