NHS workers come from 202 countries
DIVERSITY within the NHS in England has been revealed by official figures showing that it has staff from 202 foreign nations.
According to a parliamentary research group the NHS has 976,288 British employees – 87.5 per cent of its workforce – and 137,000 doctors, nurses and other staff from abroad.
The House of Commons Library figure includes just under 62,000 EU nationals.
The revelation comes despite fears that some foreign doctors are unable to communicate properly with patients and are more likely to be investigated for incompetence.
A recruitment crisis for nurses has also led to officials allowing foreign nurses to sit easier English tests.
Failure rates were so high that rules issued by the Nursing and Midwifery Council came into place in November to change it.
Fears of an NHS staffing crisis have loomed since the vote to cut ties with Brussels in June 2016, as the numbers of European nurses registering to work in the UK plunged.
But, according to the report the number of “EU staff has changed little since the referendum”.
Other than Britons, the second largest nationality is Indian, with 18,348.
Two African countries, Zimbabwe (3,899) and Nigeria (5,405), were also named in the top 10 – more than the 2,040 English-speaking Australians.
The House of Commons Library research, which used NHS Digital data, showed that Philippines pipped Ireland into third place, with 15,391 staff compared to the 13,016 that come from Eire.
Four other African nations, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Sudan and Zambia, also provided a greater number of medics, cleaners and administrators than Finland, Austria and Belgium.
Other unexpected nationalities that appear in the list are Gambian, Malawian, Afghan and Mauritian.
The report also revealed that the number of foreign staff working in the NHS varies in different parts of the country.
In London, 12 per cent of staff in the NHS are nationals of other EU countries – but in the North-east the proportion is as low as two per cent.
There are 37 NHS trusts where more than 10 per cent of staff are estimated to be nationals of other European countries, with the majority in the South-east or London.
However, there are 44 trusts where fewer than two per cent of staff are EU nationals. There are 19 NHS trusts where more than a quarter of staff report a non-British nationality.
Further analysis showed that one in 10 doctors and seven per cent of nurses are EU citizens, while 12 per cent of doctors and six per cent of nurses are of Asian descent.