The Hindu Business Line : UK prospects waning for Indian nurses

The doors seem to be closing for Indian nurses seeking greener pastures in the UK, as placement agencies have virtually stopped recruitment to this market.

The slowdown in the recruitment of Indian nurses for the UK follows the fluidity over proposed changes in the rules regarding placement of `non-European' nurses, said Mr Sri Harsha, CEO and Director of Apollo Health Resources Ltd (AHRL).

There is a global shortage of nurses.

Three years ago, the UK had complained of a shortage in nursing staff at the National Health Service (NHS). How have they solved this problem in a couple of years, he asks.

The hint of protecting `home-grown' healthcare professionals in the UK is not lost on recruitment agencies, which place nurses in global markets such as the US, Canada and New Zealand.

While certain grades or levels of nurses cannot be placed in the UK, the critical care segment is still open and specialised nurses for this category are still recruited, he said.

AHRL is the international staffing arm of the Apollo Group.

Earlier this year, doctors headed for the UK found their prospects threatened by a new immigration rule that proposed to make it mandatory for a non-European doctor to have a work permit to train at the UK's NHS.

To get the work permit, the employer would have to establish that the vacancy is genuine and could not be filled by a local doctor.

Mr Isaac Ullatil, CEO of Team Healthcare, a US-based staffing company, said that there is a status quo on the recruitment of nurses to the UK market.

Reputed recruitment agencies are not placing nurses in the UK.

However, he added, fly-by-night operators in India still take money and pretend to hire nurses for the UK, without giving them the real picture.

Sounding a note of caution, he said that nurses looking for careers abroad must check the credentials of their staffing agencies.

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