Foreign nurses are a blessing to the UK healthcare system, not a burden, says Steve O’Brien, operations director of Inivo Healthcare Talent. This follows comments by the Head of Addenbrooke Hospital in Cambridge, claiming that recruiting nurses from overseas is ‘distracting, frustrating and expensive’.
The comments highlighted a need for more robust activity in recruiting and training home-grown nurses. This follows consistently falling nurse-training figures in the UK. The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) estimates that by 2021, there will be a 23%-28%* shortage of qualified nurses. Further, a Royal College of Nursing (RCN) survey** found there were 80,000 UK applicants to only 20,000 nurse training places in 2013.
Steve O’Brien, operations director at Inivo Healthcare Talent said: ‘‘Foreign nurses remain one of the most efficient and cost-effective groups in terms of recruitment. Whilst we are in a difficult position with nurse training in the UK, we must take care not to alienate any sources of nurses, regardless of their country of origin.
‘’We have a severe shortage of qualified nurses both in hospitals and in training. Recruiting foreign nurses is the only option available until training of UK nurses catches up to demand. The NHS was built on migrant labour - foreign nurses have been pivotal in the success of the NHS since its inception, and will continue to be for the foreseeable future. As long as we attract the best nurses where nursing skills and language standards are high, then everyone will win!’’
European immigrants who have arrived in the UK since 2000 have contributed more than £20bn to UK public finances between the years of 2001 and 2011, and have provided a benefit of £6.8bn with ‘productive human capital’ – benefit that would otherwise have cost the UK taxpayer.
Figures show it costs £70,000*** to train a nurse in the UK for three years – not accounting for recruitment costs, this would cover the base salary of three nurses from overseas working at £23,000 per year.
Inivo Healthcare Talent is a leading provider of healthcare solutions throughout the UK, specialising in the recruitment of nurses and health care workers.
For more information, visit www.inivo.co.uk
DailyMail* - 80’000 [Source]
RCN** – 23-28% [Source]
NHS*** - £70,000 [Source]