The United Kingdom has recently updated its code of practice for the international recruitment of health and social care personnel in England, and has added Nigeria and 53 other countries to its red list of countries that should not be actively targeted for recruitment by health and social care employers. This decision is based on the increasing scale of health and social care worker migration from low and lower-middle-income countries, which threatens the achievement of the UK’s health and social care goals.
According to the code of practice, employers, recruitment organisations, agencies, collaborations, and contracting bodies should check the red country list for updates before any recruitment drive. The code of practice defines active international recruitment as the process by which UK health and social care employers, contracting bodies, recruitment organisations, agencies, collaborations, and sub-contractors target individuals to market UK employment opportunities, with the intention of recruiting 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.
This decision affects all international health and social care personnel in the UK, including all permanent, temporary, and locum staff in clinical and non-clinical settings, such as allied health professionals, care workers, dentists, doctors, healthcare scientists, medical staff, midwives, nursing staff, residential and domiciliary care workers, social workers, and support staff.
It is worth noting that Nigeria has the third highest number of foreign doctors working in the UK after India and Pakistan, with 11,055 Nigerian-trained doctors currently in the UK, based on statistics obtained from the UK General Medical Council. However, the UK has clarified that health and social care organisations in England will not actively recruit from the countries on the red list, unless there is a government-to-government agreement to support managed recruitment activities.
The decision to place Nigeria and 53 other countries on the red list comes after the World Health Organization listed Nigeria and other 54 countries as facing the most pressing health workforce challenges related to universal health coverage. The red list of ‘No active recruitment’ countries, in alphabetical order, includes 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, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Federated States of Micronesia, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Rwanda, Samoa, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, United Republic of Tanzania, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tuvalu, Uganda, Vanuatu, Republic of Yemen, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.