UK to stop recruitment of Nigerian healthcare workers

Nigeria has been added to the list of nations on which health and social care businesses should not actively focus their recruitment efforts by the United Kingdom.

In its amended "Code of Practice" for the foreign hiring of health and social care staff, the UK made the modification.

The World Health Organization's (WHO) red list for health workforce support and safeguards is where Nigeria now resides.

The WHO issued the safeguards list in March, which included 55 nations—55 of which were health worker shortage countries—including Nigeria.

According to the UK government, Nigeria and other nations on the red list should be given priority when it comes to the training of medical personnel and system-related assistance, as well as protections that prevent their workers from actively seeking employment abroad.

“Countries on the list should not be actively targeted for recruitment by health and social care employers, recruitment organisations, agencies, collaborations, or contracting bodies unless there is a government-to-government agreement in place to allow managed recruitment undertaken strictly in compliance with the terms of that agreement,” the code of practice reads.

The red list, according to the UK, does not stop individual health and social care workers from applying "independently" for jobs in the nation — "without being targeted by a recruiting agency or employer."

Also, according to the code of practice, "ethical recruitment is defined by the country from which the individual is resident, rather than the individual's nationality or their country of original training." This means that the limits do not apply to a health worker who is a national of a country on the red list but does not reside there or in another red list countries.

The UK also stated that a partner nation may be added to the amber list if a government-to-government agreement is put in place between the two nations, that limits recruiting organizations to the parameters of the agreement.

On the amber list are the nations of Kenya and Nepal.

Active recruiting is permitted where there is a government-to-government agreement with the UK in existence in nations that are not on either the red or amber lists and are referred to as "green" nations.

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