NHS: Hunt Madly Recruiting Non-English Staff

Anyone who voted for Brexit because they were worried about immigration and “foreigners not bothering to learn English” could soon find that leaving the EU means they are more likely to be treated by nurses with a lower grasp of the language than previously permitted.

The loss of EU staff since the June 2016 vote for Brexit has forced the Nursing and Midwifery Council to reconsider its language test for overseas applicants to cope with the NHS staffing crisis.

The International English Language Testing System was introduced last year but its rigorous standards contributed to a larger than expected drop in overseas nurses registering in the UK.

NHS pay rates have also become less competitive because of the 1% public sector pay cap and the sharp fall of the pound after the Brexit referendum, fuelling an exodus of staff with EU passports and a shortage of 40,000 nurses in the health service in England.

The importance of making a more intense effort to recruit internationally was shown by a drastic plunge in the number of applications to work in the UK from EU nurses, with applications falling from 1,304 in July 2016 to just 46 in April this year.

International Recruitment

The tough language requirements are one of the few deterrents to foreign nurses that NHS officials can easily control.

The IELTS is an exam of reading, writing, speaking and listening and even some native English speakers such as Australians have been unable to reach the pass-score of seven out of nine, often through their poor essay structures and incorrect use of tenses, which somehow are supposedly crucial to being able to work as a nurse.

The Medway Maritime Hospital in Kent recently made a recruitment drive in the Philippines after it found it was overspending on agency staff but 90% of the first cohort it attracted failed to pass the IELTS test.

According to The Observer, the Nursing and Midwifery Council is considering lowering the pass score of the existing system or switching to the kind of tests faced by international students, which require a more basic grasp of everyday English.

International applicants could also be given the same leeway as EU staff in not having to take the test if they have already worked in an English-speaking country. “For the first time European-trained nurses and midwives wanting to join the register will need to prove that they have the necessary knowledge of English to practise safely and effectively in the UK,” the NMC said when the EU restrictions were introduced in January 2016.

“We are not imposing a blanket language test on European-trained applicants but if they are unable to provide sufficient evidence of language skills, such as having trained or worked in an English-speaking country, they will be directed to undertake an English language assessment.”

Loosening Controls

Now that Brexit has exacerbated the nursing shortage the industry is welcoming deregulation. “We are pleased to see that the NMC is reviewing the way in which nurses can show they meet the required English language standards,” Danny Mortimer (left), the chief executive of the recruitment-focussed NHS Employers, told the human resources magazine People Management.

“We have been working with the NMC on this issue and, ultimately, this is about patient safety. Employers and the NMC want to make sure nurses can communicate vital clinical information clearly and effectively but there may be other ways for them to effectively demonstrate that.”

by Stewart Vickers

The post NHS: Hunt Madly Recruiting Non-English Staff appeared first on Felix Magazine.