Posted 15 February 2023 - 15:54
Posted 15 February 2023 - 15:54
News
Refugee nurses gain easier acceptance onto UK register
Regulator to find alternative ways to confirm skills of nurses who have fled their home country and lack key documents
Regulator to find alternative ways to confirm skills of nurses who have fled their home country and lack key documents
The Nursing and Midwifery Council has launched a policy to make it easier for refugee nurses to join the UK nursing register.
The policy applies to those forced to flee their home country due to conflict, persecution, terrorism, human rights abuses and violence who may find it harder to meet registration requirements.
In such cases key documents – such as a nurse’s registration certificate – may have been lost or destroyed and it may be impossible to contact training or professional bodies to verify information.
The new policy allows the NMC to consider alternative evidence of a nurse’s skills and qualifications in these circumstances.
It applies to forcibly displaced people granted international protection in the UK, including refugee status and indefinite leave to remain, and some others who may not have international protection. It also applies to those seeking asylum who have been waiting longer than 12 months for a decision on their application.
Nurses escaping conflict in Afghanistan and Ukraine are among those eligible
Currently people who have claimed asylum in the UK are only allowed to apply for permission to work if they have waited more than a year for their asylum application to be granted.
Nurses who have moved to the UK under resettlement schemes for families escaping conflict in Afghanistan and Ukraine are also among those eligible.
The NMC said it would consider each application carefully on a case-by-case basis. Anyone living in the UK illegally would not be eligible.
The policy comes alongside other moves to make it easier for nurses trained abroad – who have the right skills and experience – to practise in the UK amid widespread nursing shortages. These include changes to English language requirements that come into effect this month.
NMC says it will ensure applicants meet its standards and can provide safe, effective care
The number of internationally trained nurses joining the register grew to more than 11,400 between April and September last year, four times as many as in the same period in 2018.
NMC director for strategy and insight Matthew McClelland said most went through standard registration processes for international applicants.
‘However, it can be harder for people who’ve been forcibly displaced to meet our requirements in the usual way,’ he said.
‘Our new policy will help us to support eligible applicants through the registration process, while also ensuring they meet our standards and can provide the safe, effective and kind care people have the right to expect.’
Nursing Standard has requested more information on numbers of applications from nurses with refugee status.
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