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Indian nurses find few takers in Britain

Nurses from India are failing to find jobs in Britain despite a severe shortage of nurses.

Britain, which has in all about 630,000 nurses, has about 22,000 vacancies, according to a report in The Times.

Of the more than 8,000 nurses from non-European Union (EU) countries who came to work in Britain in 2000-01, only 289 were from India.

The number of recruits from India has remained small despite the dramatic growth in immigration of nurses.

The number of nurses from non-EU countries arriving in Britain rose from 3,621 in 1998-99 to 5,945 in 1999-2000 to 8,403 in 2000-01.

Most new nurses are arriving from the Philippines. Their number rose from 52 in 1998-99 to 3,396 last year.

The small recruitment from India follows strong opposition from the Royal College of Nursing.

A spokeswoman for the college told IANS they want to encourage recruitment 'only from countries where there is a surplus'.

Though the Royal College of Nursing cannot stop hospitals or health agencies from recruiting where they want, it is an influential body that several hospitals consult before they recruit nurses.

About 30,000 or so nurses from about 25 countries have applied for jobs in Britain. The new applicants include a large number from India.

The Royal College of Nursing is opposing these applications on the ground that India is itself short of nurses.

Thousands of Indian nurses have left over the years to take up assignments in the Gulf. The ratio of nurses to patients in India is far below internationally accepted standards.

However, the Philippines is also short of nurses after losing many to the Gulf. South Africa and Australia, which sent more than a thousand nurses to Britain last year, also suffer from a shortage of nurses.

A total of 382 nurses were recruited from Zimbabwe, 44 from Pakistan and 41 from Mauritius.

Indo-Asian News Service

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