Yahoo Finance England’s top nurse says NHS should continue to recruit staff from overseas
England’s chief nurse has said international recruitment to help fill NHS staff shortages should continue just days after reports suggested Baroness Dido Harding wanted to end the practice as part of her pitch to take over the NHS.
Posting on twitter NHS England’s top nurse Ruth May said the health service was at its best when its workforce reflected the community it serves.
Her post was made to mark Windrush Day – the anniversary of the Empire Windrush ship docking in Essex in 1948 and bringing Caribbean migrants to work in the UK after the Second World War.
On Sunday, reports claimed Baroness Dido Harding would make ending the reliance on overseas workers in the NHS a key part of her pitch to replace Sir Simon Stevens.
The claims come days after it was confirmed Baroness Harding, the wife of a Tory MP and herself a Tory peer, had applied for the top job. She is reportedly willing to resign from the Consevative Party if she got the role.
The 53-year-old has been heavily criticised for the failure of the national test and trace service to prevent the Coronavirus from spreading despite a budget of £37 billion.
England’s chief nurse said since it was founded in 1948, the NHS and its patients “have benefitted from the skills of health and care professionals drawn from more than 200 nationalities.
“International recruitment has always been, and should continue to be, a vital part of the NHS, starting with some of the hundreds of passengers of the HMT Empire Windrush coming to work for the newly created NHS followed by successive generations of nurses, midwives, doctors and health professionals from all over the world, who have each made an important contribution to the NHS workforce.”
The NHS had around 40,000 nursing vacancies before the pandemic hit Britain and NHS England has invested millions in helping to bring more nurses and midwives to the UK from countries including India and the Philippines.
It is also increasing the number of training places in the UK after years of under investment that sees tens of thousands of applicants turned away each year.
The chief nurse added: “Bringing in the sharpest talent from abroad should go hand in hand with continuing to train up the best and brightest at home – which is why we’ll carry on a drive for global recruitment while also welcoming a record-breaking number of student nurses this year.
“It’s this mix of domestic training and development, alongside international recruitment, that has helped to make the NHS the success that it is today.
“The past year of Covid has seen colleagues from all backgrounds go the extra mile to provide care for all patients who need it, and the pandemic has offered a stark reminder that the NHS is at its best when our workforce reflects our patients.”
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