...as Desperate hospitals recruit 41% more overseas nurses

THE number of overseas nurses who registered to work in Britain rose by 41 per cent last year as hospitals recruited from a record range of countries. A total of 8,403 non-European Union nurses and midwives joined the register in 2000-01 compared with 5,945 the year before and 3,621 in 1998-99.

Recruits from the Philippines soared from 52 in 1998-99 to 3,396, with thousands more currently undergoing assessment at hospitals desperate for staff. The second highest source of overseas nurses was South Africa with 1,086, then Australia with 1,046.

The figures showed that 24 countries each provided more than 30 nurses and midwives compared with only 11 countries the previous year. Registrations for this year are set to rise even further after 29,119 nurses applied from overseas.

Countries that saw big increases included Zimbabwe (up 73 per cent to 382 nurses), Nigeria (up 67 per cent to 347), India (up 201 per cent to 289), Ghana (up 89 per cent to 140) and Zambia (up 120 per cent to 88). Others were Botswana (up from none in the previous year to 87), Kenya (from 29 to 50), Malawi (from 15 to 45), Pakistan (from 13 to 44), Mauritius (from 15 to 41), the Czech Republic (from 15 to 35) and Jordan (from 3 to 33).

Britain has 630,000 registered nurses and about 22,000 NHS vacancies. About 30,000 foreign nurses are believed to work in the NHS and thousands more in the private sector. They make up a quarter of the working population of London nurses.

Paul Hutchinson, of the UK Central Council for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting, said: “It is clear that those recruiting overseas are casting their net much wider than ever before. Significant numbers of nurses and midwives are being recruited from well over 20 countries. It is not one-way traffic and many UK-trained practitioners go abroad to work. The skills of registered nurses and midwives are sought after throughout the world.”

The Royal College of Nursing said that the figures showed the increasing dependence on overseas nurses and issued a warning against recruiting too many from developing countries.

Caroline Hyde-Price, head of international corporate affairs, said: “The RCN has been involved in advising overseas nurses who have come to work in the UK in good faith but who have found on arrival that they are subject to discriminatory and illegal practices in NHS and independent sector employment. Ethical recruitment is not just about where nurses come from, it is also about how they are recruited and treated.

“The RCN also supports structured exchange schemes between nurses from the UK and overseas. It is for individual nurses to decide whether spending time working abroad is right for their career development. Difficulties arise when recruiting agencies target nurses in large numbers in developing countries.”