DOLE: More nurses wanted in UK

Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines–Good news for Filipino nurses planning to work abroad.

Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz on Friday said she had received a report from the Philippine Overseas Labor Office in London saying there is an increase in the demand for Filipino nurses in the United Kingdom.

“This after two UK-based foreign placement agencies acting on behalf of three National Health Service (NHS) Trusts submitted for verification of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) job orders for a total of 220 nurses in January 2015,” said Baldoz, quoting the report of Labor Attaché Joan Lavilla.

In her report, Lavilla said the nurses will be needed in the field of cardiology, critical care, cardiac surgery, cardio thoracic, coronary care and catheter lab, and theater practitioners, with annual salaries ranging from £21,478 to £27,901.

The UK-based foreign placement agencies, according to Lavilla, are Search Recruitment Limited and Placement Group UK Limited.

She said Search Recruitment Ltd. plans to deploy 60 nurses to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital NHS and another 60 nurses to James Paget University Hospital NHS. The manpower requirements of these two hospitals are served by its partner in the Philippines, Greenfields International Manpower Services.

Placement Group UK Limited, on the other hand, will deploy 100 nurses to Barts Health NHS, whose Philippine recruitment agency partner is Alliance International Recruitment & Placement Services, Inc.

“The demand for Filipino nurses is expected to continue in the following months, given that most UK employers prefer to source nurses from the Philippines,” Lavilla reported.

Baldoz, noting Lavilla’s report, expressed confidence that Filipino nurses will be able to satisfy the requirements of UK employers because Filipino workers in general are not only professionally qualified, but are also hardworking, courteous to patients, flexible, and are able to communicate well in the English language.

In October 2014, Lavilla advised applicants to be conscious about the new application process on the registration of nurses and midwives who were educated outside of the European Union (EU) and the European Economic Area (EEA).

She said they need to obtain successful registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) of UK, which includes, among others, attaining an IELTS (International English Language Testing System) score of 7.0 and passing the two-part competency examination composed of computer-based multiple choice examinations and the practical objective structured clinical examination.

Employers are responsible for ongoing development activities by providing nurses and midwives with (1) a thorough induction into their area of work; (2) appropriate levels of mentoring; (3) ongoing access to professional development; and (4) appropriate levels of training and support.

“The responsibility of the employers to develop their workers while employed under this new process is also a good opportunity for our nurses and midwives to gain more experience and knowledge related to their work,” Baldoz said.

She also warned applicants for nursing jobs in the UK to only deal with legitimate and licensed recruitment agencies to avoid being victimized by fake and illegal recruiters.