Update on Recruitment for Nurses in the UK

Earlier this year, the new government in the UK introduced a cap on the number of Tier 2 visas which could be issued. This affects all positions and job categories and everyone seeking employment in the UK who is not a European Union national. In other words, the position is the same for Filipinos, Americans, Chinese, Australians, etc. These changes and the cap do not solely apply to people from the Philippines.

The effect this has had for hospitals in the UK is that the number of sponsorships they can issue has been reduced and in some cases, they have no surplus sponsorships available which could be applied to nurses recruited from the Philippines. The system by which Tier 2 sponsorships are allocated to employers is complex and there is little point in going through the methodology applied here as it will not change the situation for nurses (or indeed, any other professional) seeking to work in the UK. Also hospitals face cutbacks in their budgets and many are in a “hiring freeze”.

As a result of this change, NHS Hospitals are looking again at recruitment from within the European Union. There is no need for a sponsorship nor for a costly Overseas Nurses Programme, nor costs associated with recruiting from faraway places. Certain hospitals have no allocation and therefore would not be considering international recruitment until April 2011 when the new quotas are released. Of the hospitals which do have sponsorships available, some do not currently need to employ, and others are very carefully assessing this option.

We expect that one or two employers will travel to recruit before mid-December but as yet, this is not confirmed.

I realize that this is very frustrating for many of you who have taken the positive steps of making yourself UK employer ready; it is equally frustrating for us in that there is nothing we can do apart from giving input to government (which we have done) to change or amend the situation.

We have looked closely at whether the Tier 4 visa (student) offers any alternative. At this time, we consider that it does not as there can be no guarantee of employment when you have completed the course and the opportunities to work while studying will not come near to defraying the actual cost of traveling, studying, accommodation, support and the visa. Our advice is that you should not take the step of pursuing a “Work and Study” program, many of which are offered in the Manila press. These are often not what they appear and our office in London has almost daily visits from Filipinos who have paid Php300-500K to undertake one of these programs and are now desperate to extricate themselves and find some kind of meaningful employment. Sadly, we cannot help them.

In the event that there are changes and certainly when we have notification from an employer of their intent to travel, we will contact those nurses who are UK ready and have the relevant experience in the areas of specialization that the employer seeks.

Ron Longstaff

Director – ASC Global Recruitment