UK to require foreign nurses to register with regulatory body

The United Kingdom, one of the favorite destinations of Filipino nurses, would introduce major changes in the registration of foreign nurses and midwives, the Department of Labor and Employment said. The labor department said the UK's Nursing and Midwifery Council would be requiring nurses and midwives from the Philippines and other non-European Union member countries to apply for registration with the council. The new policy would take effect next month.

In a press statement, Labor Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas said that London-based Labor Attache Victor Julio Ablan reported that the new policy is a requirement to complete the new overseas nurses program. The NMC is the regulatory body for nurses and midwives in the UK. Foreign nurses and midwives from non-EU nations are required to register with the xouncil before they could practice their profession in the country. In a report to DOLE, Ablan said the program would ensure consistency in preparing the applicants for their practice in the UK. It was developed also to ensure those requirements for nurses and midwives from non-EU nations would be comparable to the requirements for UK-trained nurses and midwives.

One of the main components of the program is to place nurses and midwives under 20 days protected learning time, which NMC registration applicants must undertake. The applicants may also be required, to undergo a period of supervised practice.

Nurses seeking to work in UK would also be required to attain at least 6.5 percent proficiency grade in the International English Language Testing System.

Ablan also said transitional arrangements have been set up to assist non-EU applicants who already have or would be obtaining an NMC decision for supervised practice in the UK during the period April-August 2005. These applicants will be allowed to access placements in the UK through organizations approved for the purpose until the end of the period. - Wenna A. Berondo