15 Sept 2021 ● Matt Farrah, Nurses.co.uk Founder
Chief Nurse Emphasises The Importance Of Overseas Recruitment As Debate Heats Up
“The government’s nursing recruitment targets are ambitious – and quite how they can be achieved without overseas Nurses remains to be seen.”Just days after Dido Harding stated her intention of ending the reliance on overseas Nurses in the NHS, Chief Nurse Ruth May has suggested that international Nursing recruitment must continue.
Topics covered in this article
Student Nurse Applications On The Rise
Introduction
The NHS’ top Nurse is highly influential, and the timing of her comments has intensified the debate over what the NHS’ future recruitment policy should look like.
‘A Vital Part Of The NHS’
Ruth May’s comments marked the anniversary of Windrush Day and were a timely reminder of the inestimable contribution that overseas workers have made to the NHS.
“International recruitment has always been, and should continue to be, a vital part of the NHS” she said.
Before the pandemic began, there was a shortage of around 40,000 full-time Nurses in the NHS.
During the pandemic, the NHS has been on an international recruitment drive; more than 8000 overseas Nurses were recruited between the Summer of 2020 and March 2021 alone.
That’s despite Brexit having a demonstrably negative impact on international nursing recruitment.
Dido Harding’s suggestions that the NHS should end its reliance on overseas recruitment have therefore offered lots of ammunition for sceptics.
The government’s nursing recruitment targets are ambitious – and quite how they can be achieved without overseas Nurses remains to be seen.
Student Nurse Applications On The Rise
Furthermore, critics have questioned not only whether the NHS can cope without overseas Nurses, but why it would want to.
The NHS, as the biggest employer in Europe, is innately international and diverse – a reflection of Britain itself.
Student nurse applications have hit record numbers – but those numbers are nowhere near the level required to make the NHS domestically self-reliant. Ruth May added: “bringing in the sharpest talent from abroad should go hand in hand with continuing to train up the best and brightest at home.”
And this view seems to echo the opinion of many others.
Nonetheless, Dido Harding is applying to replace Sir Simon Stevens as head of the NHS.
Should she be successful, the way the NHS recruits Nurses may well begin to shift.
