Latest statistics released by the Nursing and Midwifery Council on the number of professionals on the NMC register from April 1 to September 2022, showed that a total of 1,670 Nigerian-trained nurses were licenced to practice in the United Kingdom within six months.
According to TBI Africa, the NMC is the regulator for nursing and midwifery professions in the UK and it maintains a register of all nurses, midwives, and specialist community public health nurses and nursing associates eligible to practice within the UK. There is a major brain drain in Nigeria among the health workers, largely driven by poor remuneration, poor working conditions, heavy workload and insecurity.
Experts had warned that if urgent actions were not taken, the country’s healthcare system might fall to its knees. According to the NMC, there were a total of 771,445 nursing and midwifery professionals on its register as of 30 September 2022. “Of this number, 8,891 were educated in Nigeria. And in the six months to 30 September 2022; 1,670 people who were educated in Nigeria joined our register for the first time,” the NMC said.
Also, between April 2021 and March 2022, a total of 23,444 people who trained outside the UK joined the NMC register for the first time. That is 13,482 more than the number who joined the previous year. The report added, “The number of nurses and midwives who trained in Nigeria joining the UK register for the first time during the period under review was 3,010. Of these, 2,998 were nurses and 12 were midwives.”
In the report, it was observed that Nigeria was ranked third with the highest number of nurses and midwives registered after India with a total of 9,769; and the Philippines with a total of 5,763. The data shows a steady number of monthly joiners from outside the UK, with more than 2,000 internationally trained joiners each month.
