Foreign nurses arriving in UK double in year amid attempts to fill 44,000 shortfall

THE number of foreign nurses coming to work in Britain has doubled in just one year, a report shows.

The number of nurses who trained abroad registering to work in 2018-19 was 7,125 nurses, compared with 3,525 the year before.

The vast majority trained outside the EU. They include 1,791 nurses from India, and 3,118 from the Philippines, the analysis by independent charity The Health Foundation reveals.

The UK has pledged not to recruit from Indian states in receipt of aid from the British government, but the rest of India is not covered. And Britain has a memorandum of understanding allowing it to recruit healthcare professionals from the Philippines.

The numbers coming from EU countries have also risen slightly, with 968 new registrants, up from 805.

The Health Foundation says the NHS is struggling with a 44,000 shortfall in nurses, which could rise to 100,000 within a decade.

Its report says the NHS will need to recruit at least 5,000 international nurses a year until 2023-24.

The Tories have promised 50,000 more nurses, with 18,500 coming from retaining existing nurses, 12,500 from overseas, 5,000 via nursing apprenticeships and 14,000 through training. Labour has said it will employ 24,000 more nurses.

The report also shows the number of full-time equivalent GPS has fallen from 27,834 in March 2018 to 27,381 in March 2019.

Meanwhile, a survey by the Royal College of Nursing found six in 10 nurses say they are too busy to provide the level of care to patients that they want to give. The figure is up from 43 per cent a decade ago.