Four out of 10 new nurses are foreign
Four out of 10 new nurses now come from abroad, new figures reveal today.
The Royal College of Nursing says the UK is draining resources from developing regions, drawing more than 10,000 nurses in three years from countries including the Philippines, South Africa and India.
Today's report shows how 41 per cent of all nurses recruited in the UK from 2000 to 2003 came from overseas. Out of 87,491 new nurses registered, 36,197 were from abroad.
The report, Going Global, commissioned by the RCN, was released at its annual congress in Harrogate today.
It argues that the Government's short-term fix of recruiting from abroad to plug the gap while more student nurses qualify has now become a long-term strategy.
Beverly Malone, general secretary of the RCN, said: "Nurses from overseas make an invaluable contribution to the UK's healthcare system.
"Without them, in terms of nursing numbers, we would have been running fast just to stand still. But we can't guarantee that these nurses will continue to want to come to live and work in the UK. Nor should we encourage the targeting of nurses from developing nations.
"UK employers are now starting to face stiff opposition from other countries such as the US and Canada, which have their own nursing shortages. Put simply, is the policy of shoring up
the UK's nursing workforce with overseas recruits sustainable?"
Some countries, including South Africa, have called on the NHS to stop stripping them of experienced nursing staff.
But while new rules mean the NHS cannot now recruit directly from developing countries, private agencies like Bupa are still free to recruit and there is nothing to stop nurses applying in person to British hospitals.
The RCN warns that the supply from some developing countries may not be able to keep pace for much longer, and those that joined the EU on 1 May may be targeted instead.
It also warns there is growing evidence that some nurses attracted to Britain are using the NHS as a staging-post to gain more qualifications before moving on to countries like America and Canada, where salaries are better.
Latest figures show the number of nurses moving from Britain to America doubled between 2002 and 2003 to more than 2,200.
Ms Malone said: "We hope that the new pay and career package in the NHS will solve many of the problems that have historically dissuaded people from entering and staying in the nursing profession.
"But the Government cannot afford to become complacent. We also need to see urgent action to prevent recruiters in the UK from targeting countries that can ill afford to lose their experienced nursing staff."
