14 May 2004
The rapid expansion in the NHS nursing workforce has been over-reliant on overseas recruitment and might not be sustainable in the long term, nursing leaders have warned.
Latest figures in a report unveiled at the Royal College of Nursing's annual congress in Harrogate on May 11 showed that almost half of new entrants to the UK nursing register were recruited from other countries, particularly those in the developing world.
The government has regularly boasted of its success in nurse recruitment and last year Chancellor Gordon Brown said the government's aim was to secure an increase of 80,000 in nurse numbers by 2008. But the RCN is arguing that relying on overseas nurses to fill vacancies might not be viable in the long term.
RCN general secretary Beverly Malone said foreign nurses were a necessary part of the NHS. 'But we can't guarantee that these nurses will continue to want to come to live and work in the UK. Nor should we encourage the targeting of nurses from developing nations.'
Health Secretary John Reid told the congress that the government would update its code of practice but ruled out a ban on Third World recruitment by the private sector.
PFmay2004
