Life & Health
If things move according to plan, Nepali nurses will soon begin flying to the United Kingdom (UK) and serve in the health sector there. When exactly that will begin isn’t clear yet, but officials say, eligible Nepali nurses won’t have to pay a single rupee!
A bilateral agreement signed between Nepal and the UK governments on Monday paved the way for that, with recruitment of thousands of Nepali nurses in the UK’s health sector expected to begin sooner rather than later.
Secretary at the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security, Eaknarayan Aryal, and British Ambassador to Nepal, Nicola Pollitt - in the presence of Minister for Labour, Employment and Social Welfare, Sher Bahadur Kunwar - signed the memorandum of understanding (MoU) to recruit Nepali healthcare professionals in the UK's health sector.
A joint press release issued after the programme said: “An understanding has been reached to determine implementation protocol at the participation of government bodies of both countries in order to take the recruitment process to the conclusion.”
According to the agreement, the selection of Nepalese healthcare workers to be sent to the UK will be done by the Department of Foreign Employment Nepal and the Department of Health and Social Care of the UK or a designated agency.
Free of cost
Workers traveling to the UK for the recruitment process do not have to pay any fees. They even do not have to pay the fees for a language test.
They will be allowed to work in the UK for five years.
Considering the fact that Nepal is included in the World Health Organization's Health Worker Support and Safeguard List 2000, the two governments will jointly decide on the number and type of health workers to be sent in the UK.
Arrangements will be made for Nepalese health workers to be employed in the British Health Service (NHS) in a safe, dignified and orderly manner.
As the British government continues to contribute in the development of Nepal's health sector, support will continue in the future for the continuous strengthening and modernisation of the health sector, the MoU reads.
The MoU has established Government to Government (G2G) bilateral agreement on the fair and ethical recruitment of Nepali healthcare professionals to work in the UK's health sector.
Once selected, the Nepali healthcare professionals will be provided the support required for them to be placed in the UK health system.
In the first phase of the recruitment process, the implementation protocol will be clearly arranged for the posting of Nepali nurses in the UK. No fee will be charged for the appointment process and the costs of health workers selected for employment will be covered.
At the end of the trial phase, the overall health worker appointment process will be evaluated and necessary decisions will be taken on additional appointments and expansion of the process.
Prior to this, the government of Nepal had signed labour agreements with countries providing high remuneration including Israel, Japan and Mauritius.
Who is eligible?
Nepali citizens aged between 20 and 45 years holding a valid Nepali passport, who have pursued Staff Nurse, Bachelor's Degree in Nursing (BSc) or Bachelor of Nursing or Master's degree in Nursing from a recognised institution by the government of Nepal can file application.
The applicant should have an active professional license from the Nepal Nursing Council and at least two years of experience in a registered hospital in Nepal.
All the information related to the recruitment process of health workers will be kept at the Labour Ministry's website. Applicants, who fulfil the eligibility criteria, shall need to submit all required documents into the Department of Foreign Employment's online platform.
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