July 2011 Nurse Licensure Examination Result - July 2011 Nurse Board Exam Result

Plight of Filipino nurses in the UK

By GREG B. MACABENTA

For years, the Philippines has been the biggest provider of nurses to the United Kingdom. According to the Philippine Nurses’ Association of UK, quoting figures from the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), 4,338 Filipino nurses were registered in the 2003-04 period alone, compared with 3,073 from India.

But happy days appear to have ended.

To begin with, in the 2004-05 period, India had 3,690 nurses hired, compared with only 2,521 from the Philippines.

But that’s not the worst part of the news. An urgent press release issued by the PNA, through its president, Michael Duque, reports:

"The UK Home Office recently announced that it will take nurses off the occupation shortage list. The Home Office is the government department responsible for matters relating to national security, the justice system and immigration, among others.

"Following the recent report in June 2006 that 80 percent of newly qualified UK-trained nurses will not find suitable employment due to the government’s aggressive recruitment overseas in the past decade, the UK Home Office has made a sudden decision to take nurses off the shortage list effective this August.

"Until recently, most healthcare positions have generously been filled up by immigrants. Since 1998, the Philippines has been the major supplier of healthcare workers to the UK.

"Contrary to the trend during the past years, there has been a dramatic decrease in the availability of jobs in the healthcare sector this year. As a result of the government’s persuasive educational programs and promise of employment after qualification, thousands of nurse-trained graduates are set to join the general work force these coming months.

"In response to this report, the department’s decision to take nurses off the occupational shortlist hopes to generate job availability for locally trained nurses. The change applies for nurses in band five and six of the Agenda for Change system.

"Previously, foreign-trained nurses have enjoyed the preferential favored-status when applying for work permits and visas. Effective August 14, 2006, the category ‘all nurses’ on the shortage list will be replaced with specific nurse specialties [band 7 and 8] as detailed below:

"Audiology, sleep/respiratory physiology, neurophysiology, cardiac physiology, operating theatre nursing, clinical radiology, pathology, critical care.

"Other than those listed above, all nurse applications will be affected and will be subjected to a full resident labor test. Only when an application for work permit and visa has been satisfactorily proven that no local nationals were suitable for the job, then the application be considered."

That’s the official government line. The real reason is that the National Health Service (NHS) is in debt to the tune of £1.2 billion. As a result, it has had to institute "healthcare reforms," a euphemism for slashing programs, services and staff positions.

The PNA reports that the cost-saving measures include "downgrading of specialist nurses, postponement of various staff educational and specialist training, staff reduction and even redundancy [lay-off]."

Adds the PNA: "According to a survey made by the Royal College of Nursing [RCN], 31 percent of nurses reports that their trusts are deleting posts, 66 percent are suffering from job freezes and 38 percent are closing wards.

"The original estimated number of 2,000 job losses for nurses might now have gone further beyond an alarming rate. Latest figures from the Nursing Times reveal that close to 7,000 posts have now been lost in the NHS, with more trusts announcing job cuts to help soften the financial deficits."

What exacerbates the situation is that thousands of UK-educated nurses have been unable to find jobs. The RCN’s Association of Nursing Students has complained that over three-fourths of newly qualified nurses have been unable to find jobs "within six months from qualifying."

The PNA press release continues: "The financial crisis stalking the NHS has resulted in thousands of job losses. Most nurses feel concerned and upset over the current state of the NHS. Security of tenure is gone as more and more nurses are being made redundant."

According to Duque, "Most Filipino nurses are anticipating the downfall of the NHS by looking for nursing jobs elsewhere, including Australia, Canada and the US."

The chances for newly graduated nurses from the Philippines to land a job in the UK are "slim," Duque puts it grimly.

There was some irony in what a Filipino nurse and long-time London resident told us the other day, at a restaurant in the Earl’s Court area, which is some kind of Pinoy Town in London because of the presence of several Filipino retail and service businesses:

"There was a time when Filipino nurses would proudly tell people what their profession was. Now, they won’t admit it, for fear that they will be deported."

According to her, a large number of Filipino nurses have had to return to the Philippines after being laid off.

"Others have decided to stay—even if illegally."

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=46176