Many foreign nurses want to quit NHS

May 18 2005

A poll of 400 foreign nurses carried out by the King's Fund and the Royal College of Nursing, has found that four in 10 want to leave Britain, and because they feel undervalued compared with their British colleagues there is a real possibility that thousands of nurses from overseas could quit the NHS in London.

If they were all to leave it would create a crisis as there are an estimated 20,000 foreign nurses in London alone and hospitals have become heavily dependent on foreign workers to cover nursing shortages.

The largest single group of foreign staff in London hospitals are Filipino nurses, and they are the most dissatisfied with seventy per cent saying they did not want to stay in Britain.

In 2003/4, the most recent year for which figures exist, 14,122 foreign nurses registered to work in Britain. Since 1999, 55,000 overseas nurses - excluding those from the European Union - have registered.

An accompanying report claims that London hospitals are "exploiting" overseas nurses by placing them in poorly paid, low-grade jobs, despite their qualifications and experience, and these conditions make them more likely to quit.

Professor James Buchan, the report's author, says that the NHS and independent healthcare sectors rely heavily on overseas nurses and parts of the health service would collapse without them.

It also reveals that the NHS is still recruiting nurses from developing countries, despite orders from the Government to end the practice because it deprives these nations of much needed expertise.

Beverley Malone, general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, has criticised the Labour government for leaving open a legal loophole which allows independent healthcare providers to recruit foreign workers, and says it is further evidence of the weakness in the Government's code of practice.

King's Fund chief executive Niall Dickson says a better way must be found in treating this vital group, as unless the issue is addressed it could have serious consequences for the NHS.