Nurses grounded

NEW DELHI: In a move that has significant impact on Indian nurses looking for overseas employment, the British government has removed nursing from the list of professions that bypass immigration rules. The changes follows the finding that nearly 80% of the trainee nurses in Britain are unable to find jobs.

As of August 14, general nurses were removed from the skill shortage occupation list. It could mean that foreign nurses, those from outside the European Economic Area, can no longer be the first choice for a nursing job. Overseas nurses would be considered only if a suitable candidate is not found in the UK or EU. Nurses who have been in the UK for five years can apply for settlement.

Those currently employed would be left without a job once their contracts expire.
Under the Agenda of Change of UK’s National Health Services, nursing positions were categorised into bands.

The changes in rules have removed posts which had been categorised under Band 5 and 6. Some of these posts still remain in the shortage list and employers in the UK will be required to nationally advertise before applying for a work permit. These include nurses in the area of audiology, neurophysiology, operating theatre nursing, and critical care (including neonatal care).

In recent years, overseas nurses account for as much as 45% of all new nurses registered in the UK. Nearly 13,000 overseas nurses were registered between April ’04 and March ’05. In July only 440 foreign nurses were registered as against 994 for July ’05.

Experts say that the 80% unemployment among UK nurses is a short term phenomena. Overseas nurses will have to recruited if the UK health care system is to replace the 180,000 nurses due to retire over the next 10 years.