NHS recruits nurses from India after EU workers shun the UK

An NHS health trust has reportedly been forced to recruit workers from India and the Philippines after losing a ‘very worrying‘ number of EU nurses in the aftermath of Brexit.

Oxford University Hospitals Foundation Trust is believed to have carried out a recruitment drive overseas in an attempt to bring its workforce back to required levels.

The drive comes after a huge increase in the number of EU staff leaving their jobs, from 8.1 percent in 2014/15 to 17.2 percent in the first six months of 2016/17.

In April this year, only 46 nurses from the EU registered at the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), a huge decrease from the 1,304 who registered in July 2016.

Now, it’s hoped that recruitment drives across Asia will help to bring in hundreds of new nurses from the beginning of next year.

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John Drew, the HR Director at Oxford University Hospitals Foundation Trust, said: ‘We are winning the battle to make sure we have the staff we need.

‘We have made about 175 offers on a recent trip to India and we would expect that from those offers around 100 nurses will accept. We are going out to the Philippines, where they have an oversupply of nurses, in December, to see if we can recruit from the area.’

At present, Oxford University Hospitals trust boasts 70 nursing vacancies and will begin welcoming new recruits from early next year, with the first ten to 15 Indian nurses arriving in January.

But the huge decrease in EU staff has been described as ‘very worrying’ by Oxford East MP Anneliese Dodds – as the city’s high housing costs are adding to its recruitment challenges.

She said: ‘The removal of the student nurses’ bursary has already led to a reduction in nursing applicants.

‘Uncertainty over Brexit, and in particular around arrangements for EU staff and their families, seem to be making the problem worse.

‘I will keep pushing in Parliament to try and get more clarity and stability for EU staff in our NHS and indeed across other areas in Oxford where they are essential.’