One would argue that of all the public & private sectors, staff shortage in hospitals is one of the most critical issues. Some are short term due to illness or other personal reasons but permanent shortages are more serious, mainly due to people leaving service at retirement, changing employer or even moving away to another city or even a new country.
Change in immigration policy following Brexit has been another major factor until 2018 when doctors and nurses were exempted from UK government’s cap on skilled migration.
Nurses are the backbone of the healthcare industry in the UK like elsewhere in the world. They cater to the instantaneous requirements and time to time care needs of patients throughout their stay at the hospital. Their job encompasses a wide range of medical services including the administration of acute medical care. This class of medical care is a very important one in the recovery of a patient. But they also often provide much needed advice, assurance and a personal touch for people when they are at their lowest and don’t have family or friends around most of they time.
There has been a gradual decline in nursing graduates over the last decade, this coupled with the aging of population in the United Kingdom as well as globally, has given rise to a crisis like situation in the health care industry. Although overall the number of nursing graduates over years has grown by 21% it is far below that of number of patients’ rate of growth. As a direct result of these developments the number of patients per nurse has increased many times over.
This preceding rise in the number of acute patients where care is of more significance has put immense pressures on healthcare setups as well as nursing staffs as the proportion of nurse to patient ratios continually increase. Advancements in modern day medical procedures have witnessed many formerly fatal illnesses successfully treated by surgical techniques. These breakthroughs have resulted in an increase in the number of patients needing acute medical care. It has also meant an increase in the technical skills and expertise required by nurses to cater to the demands of patients who have undergone such treatment techniques.
To fill this gap, hospitals can either try to use their existing resources (for example overtime) or hire what is known as agency staff. This staff has to satisfy the required qualification and level of experience required by the public or private hospital.
Due to these and many other factors Britain, in recent years has increasingly suffered from lack of health care staff. Doctors and nurses from various overseas countries such as India, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka and the African continent have been working in the UK hospitals to plug the gap. Private agencies employ such hospital staff. There are many such agencies throughout the UK and overseas.
Private and independent agencies can provide doctors, nurses, care assistants, specialists and support staff for Facilities Management in the United Kingdom as in other Western nations. Indeed many Indian Nursing Intuitions are of the opinion that almost 80% of their graduates apply for foreign positions, giving some idea of the available positions and opportunities in the Western healthcare industry.