A total of 3,173 nurses and midwives trained in Nigeria obtained licenses to practice in the United Kingdom over the past year, according to the latest report from the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).
The report, covering the period from April 1, 2023, to March 31, 2024, provides insights into the growing number of Nigerian professionals joining the UK’s healthcare workforce.
As of March 31, 2024, the report reveals that 13,656 nurses and midwives educated in Nigeria are currently practicing in the UK. The NMC data shows that by the end of the reporting period, there were 826,418 nursing and midwifery professionals registered with the council, with 13,656 of them having been educated in Nigeria. In the past year alone, 3,173 Nigerian-trained professionals joined the UK register for the first time.
The NMC, which regulates nursing and midwifery in the UK, maintains a register of all qualified nurses, midwives, specialist community public health nurses, and nursing associates eligible to practice in the country.
The report further highlights Nigeria as one of the top non-UK sources of nursing and midwifery professionals as of March 2024, with a notable 28.3% increase in Nigerian professionals practicing in the UK over the year.
Other leading countries of origin include India (62,413), the Philippines (49,092), Romania (7,378), and Ghana (5,536).
This migration trend comes amidst concerns raised by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2023, which identified Nigeria and 54 other countries as facing significant health workforce challenges in achieving universal health coverage.
The WHO noted that the impact of COVID-19 and widespread disruptions to health services have driven health workers in these countries to seek better-paid opportunities abroad.
In response to these concerns, the UK government placed Nigeria and 53 other countries on a “red list” as of March 23, advising health and social care employers not to actively recruit from these nations.
Despite these challenges, the NMC report indicated that the number of first-time registrants across the UK continued to rise, with nearly 60,000 new nursing and midwifery professionals joining the register this year.
The influx was nearly evenly split between UK-educated professionals (30,363) and those trained internationally (29,628).
