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?Indian angels fly to ease crisis?
?Warm welcome for extra nursing help?
?Working in UK is great says Indian nurse?
These were some of the few captivating headlines in newspapers in the U.K. in the years 2000 to 2003. But now, within such a short time, several alarming headlines are frequently appearing in the newspapers. All those headlines against the overseas nurses in UK could be summarised in the one found in THE DAILY TELEGRAPH on August 14, 2006: ?NURSES FROM OVERSEAS FACE THE AXE?
Many of the thousands of nurses from overseas working far and near in the United Kingdom are not fully aware of the ?AXE? that is raised right against their head. On August 14, 2006 the new rules were brought in ?to safeguard jobs for the British trainees and for nurses from other parts of Europe?. Henceforward nurses from India and from other foreign countries will be given a job in UK, only if no suitable candidate from Britain or from Europe has applied for the post. Do not imagine that this restriction is applicable to fresh applicants only. The changes in the rules apply to those already employed and working in the U.K. too. On the expiry of the work permit of a nurse the employer has to advertise the vacancy and wait for applications. A new work permit or an extension of stay to the current work permit holder will be given only if the employer can prove that he could not find a suitable candidate from the U. K. or from the EU If the work permit is not renewed the holder of it is expected to leave the country within 28 days.
The British government has taken this position since as many as 80% of the newly qualified indigenous nurses are jobless. The government responded to this situation by removing ?registered nurse? from the shortage occupation list. Now employers can get work permits only for specialist nurses. With the increased supply of nurses, both home-grown and European, the move to stop the flow from overseas is logical and understandable.
But the ?axe? is hanging over the heads of thousands of overseas nurses who are already in this country and who have relocated their families hoping to settle down here. It is true that those who have completed five years can apply for an Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) visa. But even then they need to produce a letter from their employer stating that they need their services.
The overseas nurses now in this country are not intruders. They are not illegal immigrants. They have come here because they were given to understand that their services were needed in this country and that they would have job security here. The Department of Works and Pensions (DWP) web site was explaining in its FAQ section that nurses who come here on work permit could bring their families and plan long term settlement on completion of four years. Suddenly the four year limit for ILR is changed to five years and then they are told that this country no more needs them. Those who left secure jobs in the Middle East or in their home countries and relocated their families now feel that the government of UK has changed the goal post in the middle of the game !
The current crisis of unemployment for indigenous nurses did not come about quite suddenly. This was an easily foreseeable problem. The government knew the number of nurses who were under training right from the years when they were students. The inflow of nurses from the newly accessed EU countries also could not be reckoned as an unknown factor. However, till August 14, 2006 Registered Nurses were on the short occupation list and nurses form overseas were admitted into this country, as a special category by-passing the immigration restrictions.
UK is not the first country to recruit nurses from overseas. US have been doing it for decades and most of their overseas nurses are from India and Philippines. Those nurses who opted for the US never had this kind of bitter experience. The nurses get the kind of visas that automatically entitle them to long term settlement in the US.
In the UK in an hour of crisis in the health sector overseas nurses were enticed into this country with the prospects of long term settlement. And in a short time when some of the home qualified nurses of this country are not getting jobs promptly due to mismanagement in public health sector, and on account of the failure of the department of immigration control to do the right thing at the right time, the government conveniently forgets its promises and raises the ?axe? against overseas nurses.
No one is saying that UK should always recruit overseas nurses. What these hapless ?angels? plead for is a little fairness. The Home Office, the Department of Health and the NMC should be able to find a fair solution to the precarious position of thousands of overseas nurses who are already in this country working either as nurses or are in the process of getting registration and jobs. If this country, which is failing to deport thousands of illegal immigrants and bogus asylum seekers, is determined to send home these skilled legal immigrants who were enticed to come here with the promise of long term settlement and permanent jobs, it will be a shame.
If the Home Office and the Department of Health are not going to do anything to clear this uncertainty, thousands of overseas nurses will look for opportunities in other countries like the US, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand. The recruiting agencies of these countries have already thrown their net wide open in the troubled waters of UK nursing employment sector. The best of the overseas nursing workforce will eventually leave this country. Even during the hectic overseas nurse recruitment years UK could not put in place proper processes as in the US to get the best from overseas. UK mostly depended on agents who made a good fortune recruiting and exploiting the overseas nurses. If all those overseas nurses who have not spent 5 years in this country were to be thrown out irrespective of their qualifications, long years of experience and high quality of their service the ultimate loser will be the health sector of this country.
Justice and fairness must be done to all those nurses who migrated into this country with a proper WORK PERMIT before August 14. 2006.
?Warm welcome for extra nursing help?
?Working in UK is great says Indian nurse?
These were some of the few captivating headlines in newspapers in the U.K. in the years 2000 to 2003. But now, within such a short time, several alarming headlines are frequently appearing in the newspapers. All those headlines against the overseas nurses in UK could be summarised in the one found in THE DAILY TELEGRAPH on August 14, 2006: ?NURSES FROM OVERSEAS FACE THE AXE?
Many of the thousands of nurses from overseas working far and near in the United Kingdom are not fully aware of the ?AXE? that is raised right against their head. On August 14, 2006 the new rules were brought in ?to safeguard jobs for the British trainees and for nurses from other parts of Europe?. Henceforward nurses from India and from other foreign countries will be given a job in UK, only if no suitable candidate from Britain or from Europe has applied for the post. Do not imagine that this restriction is applicable to fresh applicants only. The changes in the rules apply to those already employed and working in the U.K. too. On the expiry of the work permit of a nurse the employer has to advertise the vacancy and wait for applications. A new work permit or an extension of stay to the current work permit holder will be given only if the employer can prove that he could not find a suitable candidate from the U. K. or from the EU If the work permit is not renewed the holder of it is expected to leave the country within 28 days.
The British government has taken this position since as many as 80% of the newly qualified indigenous nurses are jobless. The government responded to this situation by removing ?registered nurse? from the shortage occupation list. Now employers can get work permits only for specialist nurses. With the increased supply of nurses, both home-grown and European, the move to stop the flow from overseas is logical and understandable.
But the ?axe? is hanging over the heads of thousands of overseas nurses who are already in this country and who have relocated their families hoping to settle down here. It is true that those who have completed five years can apply for an Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) visa. But even then they need to produce a letter from their employer stating that they need their services.
The overseas nurses now in this country are not intruders. They are not illegal immigrants. They have come here because they were given to understand that their services were needed in this country and that they would have job security here. The Department of Works and Pensions (DWP) web site was explaining in its FAQ section that nurses who come here on work permit could bring their families and plan long term settlement on completion of four years. Suddenly the four year limit for ILR is changed to five years and then they are told that this country no more needs them. Those who left secure jobs in the Middle East or in their home countries and relocated their families now feel that the government of UK has changed the goal post in the middle of the game !
The current crisis of unemployment for indigenous nurses did not come about quite suddenly. This was an easily foreseeable problem. The government knew the number of nurses who were under training right from the years when they were students. The inflow of nurses from the newly accessed EU countries also could not be reckoned as an unknown factor. However, till August 14, 2006 Registered Nurses were on the short occupation list and nurses form overseas were admitted into this country, as a special category by-passing the immigration restrictions.
UK is not the first country to recruit nurses from overseas. US have been doing it for decades and most of their overseas nurses are from India and Philippines. Those nurses who opted for the US never had this kind of bitter experience. The nurses get the kind of visas that automatically entitle them to long term settlement in the US.
In the UK in an hour of crisis in the health sector overseas nurses were enticed into this country with the prospects of long term settlement. And in a short time when some of the home qualified nurses of this country are not getting jobs promptly due to mismanagement in public health sector, and on account of the failure of the department of immigration control to do the right thing at the right time, the government conveniently forgets its promises and raises the ?axe? against overseas nurses.
No one is saying that UK should always recruit overseas nurses. What these hapless ?angels? plead for is a little fairness. The Home Office, the Department of Health and the NMC should be able to find a fair solution to the precarious position of thousands of overseas nurses who are already in this country working either as nurses or are in the process of getting registration and jobs. If this country, which is failing to deport thousands of illegal immigrants and bogus asylum seekers, is determined to send home these skilled legal immigrants who were enticed to come here with the promise of long term settlement and permanent jobs, it will be a shame.
If the Home Office and the Department of Health are not going to do anything to clear this uncertainty, thousands of overseas nurses will look for opportunities in other countries like the US, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand. The recruiting agencies of these countries have already thrown their net wide open in the troubled waters of UK nursing employment sector. The best of the overseas nursing workforce will eventually leave this country. Even during the hectic overseas nurse recruitment years UK could not put in place proper processes as in the US to get the best from overseas. UK mostly depended on agents who made a good fortune recruiting and exploiting the overseas nurses. If all those overseas nurses who have not spent 5 years in this country were to be thrown out irrespective of their qualifications, long years of experience and high quality of their service the ultimate loser will be the health sector of this country.
Justice and fairness must be done to all those nurses who migrated into this country with a proper WORK PERMIT before August 14. 2006.
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