The UK and other wealthy countries have been accused of adopting a “new form of colonialism” in recruiting huge numbers of nurses from poorer nations to fill their own staffing gaps.
International nursing leaders said the trend was leading to worse patient care in developing nations, which were not properly compensated for the loss of experienced healthcare staff.
Howard Catton, the chief executive of the International Council of Nurses, said there was “real anger” among attenders at a meeting of nursing associations from across Africa in Rwanda this month.
He said: “The African nurse leaders said they were angry that high-income countries were using their economic power to take the nursing workforce they needed from poorer, more fragile countries.
“These wealthier countries were effectively creating a new form of long-term dependency that hinders the development of health systems in the source countries.”
They described it as “a new form of colonialism”, he said.
World Health Organization rules are supposed to prevent the poaching of staff from countries with vulnerable health systems. Recruitment from countries on the WHO “red list” should not take place without formal agreements.
Catton said, however, that even these often offered only a “veneer of ethical responsibility” and there was often little evidence of mutual benefit. He has previously called for a stronger global code of practice on international recruitment.
Dr Baboucarr Cham, the president of National Association of Gambia Nurses and Midwives, said: “It is causing a lot of issues in the Gambia, because our experienced nurses are leaving and going to Europe and America.
“Our main teaching hospital has around 300 registered nurse positions. Last year 53 left.”
Cham said the head of its midwifery unit told him she had lost 16 midwives, with staff shortages so severe that she had to leave her oversight role and return to the ward to deliver babies.
Recruiters target experienced nurses, Cham said, requiring at least two years of postgraduate experience in a large hospital.