British ban threatens OE for young nurses

A British ban on recruiting nurses from overseas is threatening to end the prospect of an overseas experience for thousands of young New Zealand nurses.

The British Government has removed general nursing from the shortage occupation list, meaning employers will have to advertise all vacancies and can only consider offshore options if UK candidates cannot be found.

The change comes into effect next month and applies to the two most junior nursing grades, which account for most foreign nurse recruits.

Critics say the move is absurd in the face of a global shortage of nurses and, though the policy will disappoint many junior nurses, it was unlikely to have any real effect.

Nurses' Organisation chief executive Geoff Annals said Britain could not fill its nursing void without a helping hand from overseas recruits.

"Talking to UK nurses, there's no doubt it's an artificial cap that's been put in place," he said.

"There's a shortage of nurses globally and in the UK, though the [British Government] has decided [the shortage] is over.

"It won't have any real effect on the ability of New Zealand nurses to work in the UK."

His comments were echoed by nurses spoken to by the Herald.

"When I was in London we were always short-staffed," said a Wellington-based nurse who just returned from six years in London.

"The turnover was so high. Half the nurses there were from overseas."

Jenny Carryer, professor of nursing at Massey University, did not expect the ban to last long.

"The current age of nurses internationally is 45, so there's a huge retirement cohort coming up and real issues around replacing that.

"New Zealand imports 23 per cent of its nursing workforce, and Britain gets a large proportion of its nurses from overseas. The [British] decision is inexplicable."

Health Minister Pete Hodgson offered his sympathies.

"It would be sad if our nurses were no longer able to gain experience in the UK as so many have done in the past."

He said the ban might make help to retain professionals in New Zealand and make a dent in the brain-drain.

The ban does not affect nurses already working in the UK, but might lead to a drop in the 12,000 overseas nurses recruited each year.

Britain's Royal College of Nursing said the move "beggared belief". Overseas nurses being made a scapegoat for the crisis in the National Health Service.

College general secretary Beverly Malone said: "Removing nursing from the list of recognised shortage professions is short-termism in the worst possible sense.

"Over 150,000 nurses are due to retire in the next five to 10 years and we will not replace them all with home-grown nurses alone."