Nigeria and 53 other countries have been placed on the United Kingdom’s (UK) red list for health and social care recruitment.

This was made after the UK government revised the code of practice for the international recruitment of health and social care personnel in England.

It is recommended that employers, recruitment organizations, agencies, collaborations, and contracting bodies check the red country list for updates before any recruitment drive.

It defined active international recruitment in the code as the process by which UK health and social care employers (including local authorities), contracting bodies, recruitment organizations, agencies, collaborations, and sub-contractors target individuals to market UK employment opportunities, intending to recruit to a role in the UK health or social care sector. It includes both physical or virtual targeting, and whether or not these actions lead to substantive employment.

The code of practice applies to the appointment of all international health and social care personnel in the UK, including all permanent, temporary, and locum staff in clinical and non-clinical settings.

This includes but is not limited to allied health professionals, care workers, dentists, doctors, healthcare scientists, medical staff, midwives, nursing staff.

Recall that in 2021, the UK suspended the recruitment of healthcare workers from Nigeria and 46 other countries, noting that the increasing scale of health and social care worker migration from low and lower-middle-income countries threatens the achievement of their nation’s health and social care goals.

The World Health Organization (WHO) on March 8, 2023, listed Nigeria and other 54 countries as facing the most pressing health workforce challenges related to universal health coverage.

According to statistics, obtained from the UK General Medical Council, there are currently 11,055 Nigerian-trained doctors in the UK, the government body that maintains the official register of medical practitioners.

Nigeria has the third highest number of foreign doctors working in the UK after India, and Pakistan.

The UK, however, in its revised code of practice said the health and social care organizations in England do not actively recruit from those countries the WHO recognizes as having the most pressing health and care workforce-related challenges unless there is a government-to-government agreement to support managed recruitment activities.

The countries placed on the red list of ‘No active recruitment’ in alphabetical order are Afghanistan, Angola, Bangladesh, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Kiribati, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Lesotho, Liberia.

Credit: New Telegraph