UK stops recruitment of Nigerian health workers

The UK government makes a decision to cease the consideration of Nigerian health workers for recruitment due to the country being placed on the red list of nations that are not eligible for recruitment.

This resolution is made after the World Health Organisation (WHO) identified Nigeria as one of the 55 countries facing significant challenges in terms of the health workforce.

As per the UK government, health and social care employers will no longer actively seek recruitment from these countries, unless a government-to-government agreement is in place.

This is expressed in a statement on the website of the UK government titled ‘Code of Practice for the international recruitment of Health and social care personnel in England’.

“Consistent with the WHO Global Code of Practice principles and articles, and as explicitly called for by the WHO Global Code of Practice 10-year review, the listed countries should be prioritised for health personnel development and health system-related support, provided with safeguards that discourage active international recruitment of health personnel.

“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.

“Countries on the WHO Health Workforce Support and Safeguards list are graded red in the code. If a government-to-government agreement is put in place between a partner country, which restricts recruiting organisations to the terms of the agreement, the country is added to the amber list.”

In 2021, the United Kingdom halted the recruitment of healthcare workers from Nigeria and 46 other nations. This decision was made due to the rising number of health and social care worker migrations from low and lower-middle-income countries, which poses a threat to the achievement of their health and social care objectives.

As per data from the UK General Medical Council, there are presently 11,055 doctors who have been trained in Nigeria practising in the UK.