United Kingdom (UK)
UK suspends recruitment of Nigerian health, social care professionals, 53 others
United Kingdom (UK) has removed Nigeria, along with 53 other countries from its medical professionals, and social care workers recruitment catchment list.
UK health and social care employers had previously targeted the listed countries for recruitment of their employees, a situation which experts have blamed for brain drain in the affected nations.
The UK decision was contained in the revised code of practice for the international recruitment of health and social care personnel made available in England.
The revised code of practice applies to the appointment of all international health and social care personnel in the UK, including all permanent, temporary, and locum staff in clinical and non-clinical settings.
Although this includes but not only restricted to allied health professionals, care workers, dentists, doctors, healthcare scientists, medical staff, midwives, nursing staff, residential and domiciliary care workers, social workers, and support staff.
The document defines active international recruitment as the process by which UK health and social care employers (including local authorities), contracting bodies, recruitment organisations, agencies, collaborations, and sub-contractors target individuals to market UK employment opportunities, with the intention of recruiting to a role in the UK health or social care sector. It also includes both physical or virtual targeting, and whether or not these actions lead to substantive employment.
The revised code of practice, however, stated that health and social care organisations in England do not actively recruit from those countries the World Health Organisation (WHO) recognises as having the most pressing health and care workforce-related challenges unless there is government-to-government agreement to support managed recruitment activities.
It would recalled that WHO on March 8, 2023, listed Nigeria and other 54 countries as facing the most pressing health workforce challenges related to universal health coverage.
According to reports, there are currently 11,055 Nigerian-trained doctors in the UK, based on statistics obtained from the UK General Medical Council- the government body that maintains the official register of medical practitioners.
The full list of affected countries include: Nigeria, Afghanistan, Angola, Bangladesh, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Kiribati, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Lesotho, Liberia.
Others are: Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Federated States of Micronesia, Mozambique, Niger, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Rwanda, Samoa, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, United Republic of Tanzania, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tuvalu, Uganda, Vanuatu, Republic of Yemen, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
UK had back in 2021, also suspended recruitment of healthcare workers from Nigeria , along with 46 other countries, noting that the increasing scale of health and social care worker migration from low and lower middle income countries threatened achievement of their nation’s health and social care goals.
