§ Mr. BaronTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many nurses working in the NHS have been recruited from developing countries under(a) memoranda of understanding and (b) bilateral agreements with other countries in each of the last five years. [150651]
§ Mr. Hutton[holding answer 26 January 2004]The Department signed a memorandum of understanding with the Philippine Government last year. To date, the national health service has recruited 176 nurses directly through the agreement.
The Department has an agreement with the Ministry of Health in India. To date, the NHS has recruited 431 nurses directly as a result of this agreement.
We have recently signed a memorandum of understanding with South Africa to offer South African and English health care professionals the chance to go on time-limited placements to the other country.
§ Mr. BaronTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many nurses working within the NHS have come to the United Kingdom from developing countries in each of the last five years, broken down by country of origin. [150657]
§ Mr. Hutton[holding answer 26 January 2004]The information requested is not collected centrally.
The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) register all nurses who work in the United Kingdom and produce a statistical breakdown of their register. An analysis of the register can be found on the NMC website at www.nmc-uk.org.
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