The health secretary is moving to increase overseas recruitment to seal the gaps in the current NHS workforce, according to The Guardian.

The changes will provide opportunities for nurses and dentists from countries such as India, Sri Lanka, Kenya, the Philippines and Malaysia to work in Britain.

According to NHS vacancy statistics the empty positions in the NHS have reached a record high of 132,139. Within the registered nursing staff group there are 46,828 vacancies (rate of 11.8 per cent) - only included in dental nursing version.

A memo seen by The Guardian shows that the Department of Health and Social care “will lay a statutory instrument in the House of Commons on Monday intended to enable the bodies that regulate nurses and dentists to approve the arrival of more foreign-trained staff.”

There will also be secondary legislation called “the Dentists, Dental Care Professionals, Nurses, Nursing Associates and Midwives (International Registrations) Order 2022”.

According to The Guardian, the memo says, “aspects of the current legislative requirements for registering international dentists make it difficult and time-consuming for the General Dental Council (GDC) to make changes to its registration.” The changes aim to “provide the GDC with greater flexibility to make changes to its Overseas Registration Exam (ORE) process and to explore other registration routes for international applicants, for example, recognition of programmes of education delivered outside the UK on a unilateral basis.”

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