NMC compelled to accept foreign nurses in the UK

United Kingdom, 3rd September: Nursing and Midwifery Council, UK is being forced to register foreign nurses, especially those hailing from EU nations even without having a work gap of as much as 20 years.

This has been revealed by NMC (Nursing and Midwifery Council), UK in a latest inquiry by House of Lords.

NMC forced to abide by EU rule--The inquiry shows that while foreign nurses are being admitted into the UK, UK-born nurses are being rejected, thanks to the new EU law that makes it a compulsion to accept nurses and midwives from other EU nations although they might not possess up-to-date training.

As a result of this EU law, many UK nurses having latest training were compelled to leave this profession, findings of the inquiry maintain.

Integrity of NMC in risk--According to chief executive of the NMC, Dickon Weir-Hughes, due to EU legislation allowing free movement of workforce, it was obliged to obey a two-tier system.

Weir-Hughes revealed this as a proof to the investigation by a Lord sub-committee regarding mobility of healthcare workers between EU member states.

A further evidence came from the GMC (General Medical Council), a regulatory body of doctors, according to which husband of an overseas doctor asked to register his wife for work since she was unable to speak English. Every year, around 7000 foreign midwives and nurses from other EU nations get registered with the NMC.

Presently, there are a total of 670,000 healthcare professionals in the NMC database. And keeping this in view, the EU ruling is a big threat to the integrity of the NMC, said Weir-Hughes.

As a rule, all British midwives and nurses must complete a fixed number of hours of CPD (continuing professional development) as well as training after a period of every three years.

And registration is not open for anyone not undergoing such training, Weir-Hughes further maintained.

However, this ruling is not being followed in case of EU nurses and midwives since many of them have not worked for the last twenty years or even longer, thanks to the EU rule allowing free movement of workers.

On the other hand, British nurses or midwives still have to return to practice course at any midwifery or nursing school before getting registered with the NMC.