Many foreign nurses set to quit NHS
Many of foreign nurses recruited by the NHS to avert a staffing crisis are on the verge of leaving, according to a new survey.
Research by the Kings Fund and the Royal College of Nursing found that around 40 per cent of nurses currently working in London planned to leave the country, with many heading for better paid nursing jobs in the US.
The research indicated that there was no quick fix available to the NHS as nurses cited a variety of reasons for being dissatisfied.
Nurses from developed countries like Australia, New Zealand and South Africa felt exploited and underpaid, while those from the sub-Saharan and less developed regions felt that they were not receiving the professional development that motivated them to migrate.
Lead researcher, Professor James Buchan, warned the NHS of the long term problems associated with overseas workers.
“The NHS and independent healthcare sectors rely heavily on overseas nurses to deliver healthcare – without them, parts of the health service would collapse,” he said.
“They perform a crucial and valuable role, but our survey shows the NHS is playing a high risk game by relying on these overseas staff to commit long-term to the NHS.”
Liberal Democrat Shadow Health Secretary Steve Webb said the NHS needed a long term strategy to improve recruitment of nurses within the UK.
“NHS organisations must focus on improving working conditions for all nurses to improve retention,” he said.
“The Government’s code of practice for agencies recruiting from overseas must be strengthened to avoid aggressive recruitment of nurses from developing countries.
“We also need new international agreements to protect the poorest nations from losing essential staff.”
