Immigration is important to British nursing. Foreign nurses make up almost 15% of the UK workforce. The UK has relied on overseas nursing expertise for a long time.
English Health Service's Electronic Staff Record - Sept 2015
Working in NHS England
Immigration is important to British nursing. Foreign nurses make up almost 15% of the UK workforce. The UK has relied on overseas nursing expertise for a long time.
A Government report released in Feb 2016 said that "rapid growth in the number of nurses employed over the last 2.5 years has resulted in an increase in the ratio of nurses to patients." Unfortunately, Dec 2011 to May 2013 saw a fall in nurse-to-patient ratios. In addition, the number of admissions since the rise in nurse numbers has meant that the supply of nurses has "failed to keep up with demand."
https://fullfact.org/immigration/immigration-and-nhs-staff/
"The escalating NHS recruitment crisis is forcing more than two-thirds of trusts to look to migrants to fill vacancies, according to figures released after a freedom of information request by the BBC."
The Guardian, Feb 2016
Following Brexit, Janet Davies, chief executive and general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) said of NHS nursing recruitment: "The UK is completely unprepared to deal with the uncertainty caused by leaving the European Union. In the near future, this uncertainty threatens the international recruitment which the NHS will rely on for many years to come. Staff from EU countries who work in the UK must be given reassurance over their future."
Speaking to Health Service Journal, Jackie Smith, chief executive of the NMC (Nursing and Midwifery Council) said Brexit will affect the pipeline of nurses to the NHS. She suggested that EU nurses looking to work in the UK may face application difficulties following Britain's decision to leave the EU: "EU nurses have to verify documents with us and take an English language test, where it is appropriate, but they don't have to get a visa. There are bound to be things that make the process longer"
Health Service Journal, July 2016"In an effort to control immigration, the government has imposed strict caps on the number of non-EU workers who can come to the UK. This cap is harming British industry, which is prevented from recruiting the best and brightest from around the world, but it is particularly damaging to the NHS."
"It seems unlikely EU nationals already working in the UK will be 'sent home'... However, the uncertainty about their status may tempt some nurses to return to their home countries and others may be put off coming to the UK. At the moment non-EU nurses have to go through a complicated application process to work in the UK and it is possible that this will be extended to EU nurses post-Brexit."
BBC, 10 Sept 2015
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-34191123