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Four of UK’s top countries for nurse recruitment on WHO ‘red list’


Three of the top seven countries from which the UK recruits overseas nurses are on the World Health Organization’s (WHO) ‘red list’ where active recruitment should not be used.

Nigeria, Ghana and Nepal are the third, fifth and seventh highest respectively in the list of countries that provided the largest number of overseas staff joining the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) register between April 2021 and March 2022.

All three were on the red list during this period, which is derived by the WHO and identifies countries facing the most pressing health workforce shortages, meaning they should not be targeted for systematic recruitment by international employers.

Nepal has since moved off the red list following of a government-to-government agreement between the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and the Government of Nepal in the summer.

But the agreement has raised concerns among health leaders, including those reported in The Observer which suggested Nepali recruitment agencies carried out abusive practices, such as charging illegal fees.

Royal College of Nursing general secretary and chief executive Pat Cullen said the “overreliance” on international recruitment showed that the government had “no grip on the nursing workforce crisis”.

“It’s deeply concerning that four ‘red list’ countries appear amongst the top 20 most recruited from countries,” she said.

“This approach is unsustainable. Ministers must invest in growing the domestic nursing workforce.

“They need to give nursing staff the pay rise they deserve to retain experienced nurses and attract new people to the profession.”

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Source: Nursing Times, 4 October 2022

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