The Essentials of Healthcare in the United Kingdom

The United Kingdom has one of the best healthcare systems in the world because of the National Health Service (NHS). The NHS started in 1948 and provides free healthcare for everyone when they need it. The NHS ensures that everyone can get the medical help they need without having to pay when they receive treatment.

 

Whether you live in the UK, are from another country, or are just visiting, it’s important to understand how the NHS works. Knowing the basics will help you get the care you need easily, whether it’s for an emergency or finding a local doctor.

 

Today, you’ll learn everything you need to know about healthcare in the UK in a simple way. This information will help you feel prepared for any health issue, whether you’re just visiting or moving to the UK for good. With this important knowledge, you’ll be able to manage your health in the UK like a pro and never feel unsure about your care.

 

The centre of UK medical care

 

The UK's healthcare system is run by the National Health Service (NHS), which provides essential health services to everyone. The NHS makes sure healthcare is free when you need it and is mostly paid for by taxes. This means you don’t need to pay for regular checkups or emergency care. If you have a health problem, your first visit is usually to a general practitioner (GP). They help by diagnosing, treating, and referring you to specialists if needed.

 

The first thing you need to do to use NHS services is to register with a local general practitioner (GP). You can do this in person or online, and it's best to choose a GP near your home. After you register, you can book regular checkups, get prescriptions, and receive care to stay healthy.

 

Keep in mind that healthcare can be a little different depending on whether you're in England, Scotland, Wales, or Northern Ireland. However, the main parts of the NHS are the same across the UK, so it's easy to use no matter where you are.

 

Obtaining medical services

 

In the UK, handling medical emergencies is easy. If you're facing a serious emergency, just call 999, and an ambulance will take you to Accident & Emergency (A&E) for quick treatment. For less serious health issues, you can visit an urgent care clinic. Knowing the difference between these options will help you get the right care quickly during an emergency.

 

To get non-urgent medical care, the first step is to make an appointment with your general practitioner (GP). Your GP can help with things like prescriptions, consultations, or referring you to a specialist. You can pick up prescriptions at your local pharmacy, and if you need extra care, your GP will send you to a specialist.

 

The UK also has mental health services for emotional support, and dentists and opticians for regular checkups. If you have minor illnesses or need advice on over-the-counter medicine, pharmacies are a good place to go. For tourists or short-term visitors, healthcare can be accessed through emergency services or by paying for certain treatments, depending on agreements between your country and the UK.

 

What you should know about UK health insurance

 

In the UK, private health insurance works alongside the NHS to offer extra benefits that the NHS may not provide. The NHS provides free care when you need it, but private health insurance can offer faster treatment, allow you to choose your doctor, and cover extra services, such as quicker surgeries or private hospital rooms. If you prefer to have more control over your care or avoid long waiting times, private insurance can be a good option.

 

Private health insurance does cost money. The price depends on how much coverage you need, your age, and your health. Some people find the NHS is enough for them, while others think the extra cost is worth it for better care.

 

If you're a visitor, expat, or international student, there are insurance options available, but it's important to think about the costs. International students often need private insurance or have to pay the NHS fee. Visitors and expats should compare plans to make sure they have enough coverage for both regular care and emergencies.

 

How to handle UK healthcare like an expert

 

Once you understand the basics, using UK healthcare is easier than you think. Whether you need emergency care or a visit to the doctor, the NHS makes sure everyone, both locals and visitors, can get free, good-quality treatment.

 

If you know how to register with a doctor, understand your rights to treatment, and consider private insurance if needed, you will be in control of your healthcare. The system is designed to be simple and works well, no matter how long you're staying in the UK.

 

 

 

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Immigration Rules In The United Kingdom May Be Eased To Help Bring In Care Workers

Care workers may not have been given that much attention in previous years but because of this pandemic, the need for such professionals has definitely been highlighted. This is the reality in many countries around the world, including the United Kingdom. These professionals are really essential nowadays especially with the pandemic still continuing to create chaos. They help care for those who need such services and they ensure that patients are given proper attention and assistance.

 

One of the things that the pandemic has exposed though in countries like the United Kingdom is the gap in the workforce. In the case of this country in Europe, the gaps in the workforce include those for care workers. This is according to data from the UK government, which showed that the country needs more care workers, amounting to thousands of them. This is as an effect of having over 40,000 workers in the social care sector leaving just in the past half year.

 

Recruiting the needed care workers

 

The government of the UK is doing the best that it can to ensure that the country has all the needed care workers to help out. One of the main things that the government is doing is relaxing the immigration rules and this is done not for all but only for care workers, home care workers, and care assistants, who are the professionals that are included in the list of occupation shortages in the United Kingdom. By doing so, the country can attract and bring in easily all of those professionals who do essential work, especially in this pandemic.

 

As per the country’s Department of Health and Social Care, challenges in the labor force, especially for care workers, had shown up because of the pandemic. That is why the UK government ensured that the limitations on bringing in the needed care workers would be eased as the care sector in the United Kingdom had been having severe difficulties.

 

Care workers who can qualify

 

It is important to note that not all care workers are qualified to make it to the country. The UK still has some rules and requirements for them to make it to the country. Care workers should have a health and care visa which has to be for 12 months. They should also be receiving at least £20,480 as their annual salary. The United Kingdom government also would allow these care workers to bring with them their dependents which could include their children and their partner. These are the changes that the UK has done to the health and care visa, and the government believes that it will help boost the care labor force and help lessen any pressures that the care sector in the country is experiencing.

 

 

 

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NHS Visa In The United Kingdom Would Be Fast-Tracked For Immigrant Nurses And Doctors

The preparations for the upcoming election in the United Kingdom on the 12th of December this year are ongoing. Political parties are working on their plans and their campaign propaganda. One of the newest plans would be making sure that applications for the NHS visa for immigrant nurses and doctors would be fast-tracked. This is as per the Conservative Party which is currently the minority in the UK government.

According to the Conservative Party, this plan to fast track the National Health Services (NHS) visa would allow the country to lure the needed health workers to the UK. It would also allow them to keep these skilled immigrant workers to stay in the country longer. The United Kingdom has been reliant on thousands of skilled immigrant workers in providing the needed health services of the citizens and everyone else in the country. This political party had previously imposed a policy with zero tolerance when it came to immigration. It looks like the winds have changed.

The stand on immigration

During campaigns before the election in the United Kingdom, immigration has always been one of the top issues that are being discussed and debated on. There are people who clamor for being able to have control over the country’s borders and that has become one of the major reasons why the population of the country had sent out their votes in agreement to the UK leaving the European Union.

With many people working in the health sector being immigrants, the country is now prepping for the possibilities when the exit comes into effect. There are quite many skilled immigrants in the health sector of the UK that are citizens of European Union member nations. Once the exit happens, these individuals may have to go back to their home country or to other countries if they do not wish to stay in the country especially since they would have to apply for visas to be able to remain living and working in the country. That is why the NHS visa has been planned to help the health sector retain their capacity to help people.

Targeting the best health practitioners

Many people have already realized just how things can go awry when the exit happens since the country would be losing many health practitioners which is very important in the UK. Experts have proven that the NHS has been quite reliant on the skilled immigrants that they have been employing. That is why the fast track of the NHS visas have been organized. With this, the country can easily bring in the needed health workers so that the country does not have to feel the loss of the other immigrants who had to leave the UK. The NHS visa is also meant to target the best health practitioners in the entire world.

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Skilled Health Professional Immigrants Get Fast Processing In United Kingdom

Plenty of health professionals have been eyeing the United Kingdom to be the place to move to. The country is home to many skilled immigrants who are part of the health industry and many want to join them. This is not surprising given that the country is home to one of the best health services and institutions in the entire world – many health professionals would want to be part of that industry and learn more and also be able to put into practice their skills and knowledge.

A recent update in the United Kingdom immigration system has got many potential immigrants from around the world to be excited about the opportunities. It seems like the government of the UK has created plans so that health professionals who are interested in joining the growing health community of the country would find it easier to move there. There is a new visa scheme that would make the processing of visas for these individuals faster and easier. This new scheme is known as the National Health Service visa scheme.

The NHS visa scheme

According to the proposed rules for the NHS visa scheme, professionals in the health industry who are interested in joining the UK’s NHS as immigrant workers would be getting additional points when they apply. Their applications would also be processed faster. There would be preferential treatment for these individuals given that there is a demand for these people and their skills and experience in the medical industry.

Priti Patel works as the interior minister of the Home Secretary. According to her, these plans are based on a points system scheme that they are trying to put in place. It would be based on the immigration style that is being used in Australia. The interior minister has also shared that by using such a system for health professionals wanting to be part of the UK health industry, they would be able to have control over the numbers. They would also be able to easily track and process applications of skilled immigrants whose expertise is needed in the country.

Attracting global talent

Patel has also continued to disclose that the country is aiming at attracting and bringing in the needed talents from around the globe and have them become part of the National Health Service of the UK. This is to ensure that the NHS would be able to continue to give the best services to the people in the country. The scheme is also a good way to do that without adding more strain to the current immigration system. The aim is to be able to lure in some of the best doctors, nurses, and other health professionals needed in the UK after the UK does its exit from the European Union.

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Why Immigrant Students Are Choosing The UK

Every year, the United Kingdom welcomes quite a huge number of immigrant students who hail from various parts of the world. The country is home to plenty of these immigrant students and many are wondering what is in the UK that is making these immigrant students choose this over any other country in the world that offers really good education. After all, it is not only the UK that offers really good education and has outstanding educational systems in the whole world.

Upon asking those immigrant students who are already in the UK why they are there and what made them choose this country over any other country in the world, there reasons were varied. However, there are some of the top reasons which definitely reflect what kind of country the UK is and how it actually gives education a really high importance in the whole scheme of things. So read on and find out just what those reasons are.

No examinations needed for graduate programs

There are plenty of immigrant students who are actually looking for higher education. In the United Kingdom, the educational system does not necessarily ask those who may be interested in studying there to take exams just to be able to apply for such. In fact, admission to the top universities in the country would not ask anyone who is interested to take an exam first and pass that before they would be allowed to enroll. What these universities would usually ask would be for an immigrant student’s General Point Average (or the GPA) as well as some reference letters from employers or former professors. They would also ask for a personal write up on why they are choosing the school and why they should be accepted.

Faster route towards getting a degree

Another point why plenty of immigrant students are choosing the United Kingdom for studies is that the educational system is designed so much so that there would be a lot less time needed by the students to get their degree. Unlike other countries in the world, a Bachelor’s degree may only take three years as compared to the usual four in other countries. For Master’s degrees, students may be able to finish the whole program in just one year. This is because the educational system is only asking the students to take courses and classes that are only related to the major of the individual. This allows the students to focus mainly on their field of study and nothing else. It also equates to lesser expenses on the end of the student because they would not have to spend on tuition on other courses that they may not be using as part of their program.

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UK Needs Softer Immigration Rules To Bring More Doctors For Children

The children are the future. Without them, any country just may not continue to thrive. That is why countries make sure that they have good health programs to help children and let them be healthy and well.

In the United Kingdom, the government makes sure that proper health care is given to all people in it and it does not matter if they are locals or if they are immigrants. As long as they are in the country, they are entitled to health services. However, recent news has it that the country is lacking in doctors for children.

With that, there is a call for help to the government to have softer laws and rules on immigration so that the country would be able to get the needed doctors for children. A lot of children in the UK need health services and if there are not enough doctors, these children may have to suffer and that is something that should be avoided.

The lack of doctors for children

This situation in the United Kingdom should be deemed as a wake up call and that is according to the group, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (or RCPCH). Indeed, if there are more children needing help and yet there is a lack of doctors specializing in children’s health around, then the government definitely should look into the situation and make a solution. If the country does not have enough doctors, then it may be important the government to start looking for immigrants who can do the needed job.

Right now, a study from the group has revealed that places where children’s health is provided have been having difficulties with giving the care needed. There is struggle to fill the vacant positions for children’s doctors. The current rate is around one needed doctor for every five places. This is the minimum and the current doctors are having a hard time with rotations.

The gaps in the medical workforce

Dr. Simon Clark is a member of the RCPCH. With regards to the situation, Clark says that there are indeed gaps when it comes to the medical workforce. Such a gap has a really big negative impact on the doctors who are already serving as well as on the services that are provided by health institutions. 

At present, around 90% of health facilities that provide healthcare for children are having concerns on how they will be able to work with the situation at hand.

The government should be able to do something about this. If there is a need for more lenient policies for doctors for children, the government should work on that and offer good programs for immigrants. That way, the children get the proper care they need and the problem would be given a good solution.

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UK immigration: 40% of NHS nurses born overseas

The UK's Prime Minister David Cameron has been criticised for comments he made about immigration on an official visit to a car factory on 22nd July 2013.


Mr Cameron was asked why the government allowed immigrants who were 'a constant drain' on the nation to come to the UK. Mr Cameron replied 'I basically agree with you'. He said 'In the last decade, we have had an immigration policy that is completely lax. The pressure it puts on our public services and communities is too great'.


Mr Cameron said that he wanted 'to see net immigration coming down faster. On housing, health, education and legal aid, we are showing we are not a soft touch. By the end of this government, we will be able to look back and say 'we may not have sorted out the whole problem, but we have got a much tougher approach to immigration and that's fair''.

Coalition acting to cut immigration

Mr Cameron's government promised to reduce the level of net immigration to the UK to below 100,000 a year by 2015. To that end, it has introduced various measures. It has

• Introduced a cap of 20,700 per year on the number of Tier 2 (General) skilled worker visas that can be issued annually
• Abolished the Tier 1 (Post Study Work) visa which allowed foreign graduates of UK universities to work for two years after graduation and the Tier 1 (General) visa which allowed foreign graduates to come to the UK to work)
• Introduced a minimum income threshold of £18,700 per annum for any UK citizen who wants to bring his or her spouse to the UK.
• Cracked down on colleges which sold 'immigration not education' to foreign students. The government feared that many people coming to the UK on Tier 4 student visas were doing so in order to work, not to study. More than 500 colleges have lost the right to sponsor foreign students for Tier 4 visas.

The level of net annual immigration has fallen from about 260,000 in 2010 to about 150,000 in 2013. Immigration minister Mark Harper has said that he expects the government to meet the 100,000 target by 2015.


However, critics have pointed out that Mr Cameron's pronouncements on immigration are at best misguided and ignore evidence which shows that foreign nationals do not impose a disproportionate drain on the UK's public services. In fact, the evidence suggests that they do quite the reverse; most migrants use services less than the host population and many work in vital services. Without them, in fact, the UK's public services could not function as they do.

Office for Budget Responsibility says UK needs immigrants

The day before Mr Cameron's visit to the Bentley car factory in Crewe, the government's own Office for Budget Responsibility issued a report that said that immigrants tend not to take up benefits to the same extent as the native population. The report also said that increasing the UK's level of immigration would help the country to pay off its national debt.


Last month, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development issued a report which found that immigrants make a net contribution to the UK's economy. The report estimated that immigrants make a net contribution to the UK economy of some £16.3bn per annum. They use fewer services because they are younger and healthier than the native population.


George Eaton, writing for The New Statesman, said that research by the UK's Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) shows that only 6.4% of those claiming benefit in the UK are foreign nationals. The last UK census conducted in 2011 suggests that some 13% of the UK's population is foreign-born. They are therefore half as likely to be claiming benefit as native Britons.

40% of NHS nurses born overseas

Dr Clare Gerada of the Royal College of General Practitioners has pointed out that 30% of doctors and 40% of nursing staff in the National Health Service were born abroad; a much higher percentage than the percentage of patients using the NHS who were born abroad.


Columnist Mehdi Hasan, writing on the Huffington Post website, points out that, in addition, 20% of care workers caring for the UK's elderly (and 60% in London) were born abroad. He adds that 95% of the staff who clean London Underground trains and platforms are foreign-born as are many who work in agriculture.


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UK's student union criticises government's student immigration policy

An officer of the UK's National Union of Students (NUS) has criticised the UK's Coalition government saying that its immigration policy makes international students 'feel unwelcome with ever more onerous restrictions'. Daniel Stevens, the International Students Officer at the NUS, says that he fears that the government's tough talk and policies on immigration are creating an atmosphere that will deter foreign students from coming to the UK.


Mr Stevens made his claims in online journal The Huffington Post on 9th May 2013, the day after the State Opening of Parliament during which The UK's queen, Elizabeth II, announced the government's intention to legislate on immigration in the coming months. Each year at the State Opening of Parliament, the queen is required to read out a speech written by her government outlining the legislation it intends to introduce in the next year.


The government's proposed immigration bill contains no provisions concerning students. In fact, it contains no provisions concerning any visas issued under the UK's five tier points-based visa system. There are, therefore, no changes to visas for high value migrants (Tier 1 visas), highly skilled migrants (Tier 2 visas) , students (Tier 4 visas) or temporary workers (Tier 5 visas). It seems that Mr Stevens is concerned that students may be deterred by a generally unwelcoming attitude to immigrants in the UK.

Britain will welcome those who wish to contribute

The government has claimed that its proposed immigration bill will make the UK welcoming to immigrants who wish to 'contribute' and unwelcoming to those who do not. The measures proposed include:

• A limit on the right of foreign nationals to use the UK's National Health Service
• Increasing fines for employers who employ workers who are not allowed to work in the UK
• A requirement that all private landlords should make prospective tenants prove that they are in the UK legally before letting them a property
• A measure to limit the right of foreign criminals to depend on Article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights when applying to remain in the UK. Article 8 says that all people have a right to a family life. The UK government says that this Article has been interpreted too liberally by UK and European courts which, the government says, allow dangerous criminals to stay in the UK purely because they have fathered children, thus endangering the rest of society.

Mr Stevens told The Huffington Post 'The Home Office have set arbitrary targets for reducing immigration and international students are a soft target despite the huge academic, cultural and financial contributions they make to their universities and the communities in which they live. Ministers must stop treating international students like a political football by recognising their value and removing them from the immigration statistics'.


The government did not, in fact, ask the Queen to announce any new targets for immigration during her speech at the State Opening. It has, however, committed itself to an informal target of reducing net immigration to the UK to 'tens of thousands' annually by 2015. This is taken to mean fewer than 100,000 per year. When the Coalition came to power in 2010, net immigration was about 250,000 per annum.

Over 200,000 international students arrive in the UK each year

Critics of this commitment say that the only way that the Coalition would be able to meet its target would be by cutting the number of international students coming to the UK each year. This is because the UK issues between 200,000 and 300,000 visas each year. It would therefore be impossible, they say, to cut UK net immigration to below 100,000 each year without cutting the number of students coming to the UK.


The government has said that its intention is to prevent bogus students from coming to the UK while encouraging 'the brightest and the best' to study at UK universities. The current immigration minister, Mark Harper MP, told online education journal The Pie last month that the government had acted to close down colleges that sold 'immigration not education'. He said that 500 bogus colleges had lost their licences to sponsor international students for Tier 4 visas but insisted that there had been a 1% rise in the number of university students studying at UK universities.


Mr Stevens joins a long list of voices calling on the government to exclude students from the immigration statistics. In January, the chairman of five UK parliamentary committees (Three House of Commons committees; the Home Affairs Committee, the Public Accounts Committee and the Science Committee and two from the House of Lords; the Science and European Union Committees) wrote to the Prime Minister, David Cameron, and urged him to remove students from the immigration statistics in order to 'reconcile the tensions between visa policy and aspirations for growth'.

Cabinet split on whether to remove students from immigration figures

It is believed that two ministers in the UK government cabinet favour this approach including the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne and the Business Secretary, Vince Cable.


However, Home Secretary Theresa May, whose department has responsibility for policing immigration, has ruled out such a move. She has said that students must remain in the statistics as international statistical standards require that anyone who moves to a country for a year or more should be classed as an immigrant.


Nicola Dandridge of Universities UK told the Huffington Post that the number of enrolments of international students at UK universities 'remained broadly flat this year'. She argued that this showed that 'there is now a need for more joined up thinking and better messaging in terms of international students. If the government's aim is to make the UK a country that attracts people who will contribute, they need look no further than international students'.


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Business chief and mayor criticise UK immigration policy

The Director General of the Confederation of British Industry, John Cridland has spoken out against the UK government's commitment to cut net inward immigration into the UK from outside the EU to 'tens of thousands' per year by 2015. He says that the government should drop the target. London Mayor Boris Johnson also attacked the government for damaging the UK's higher education sector.


When it came to power in 2010, the Coalition government, led by Prime Minister David Cameron, a Conservative, and Nick Clegg, a Liberal Democrat, promised to cut net immigration into the UK to 'tens of thousands' per year. This has always been taken to mean less than 100,000. Under the previous Labour government, led by Gordon Brown, the annual net immigration figure had been around 250,000 per year. Net immigration is calculated by taking the total number of immigrants and subtracting the number of people who have emigrated over the same period. This will give the increase in population caused by immigration over that period.


Mr Cridland, interviewed by The Financial Times, said that the commitment to limit immigration to a set number was problematic for many reasons. He said firstly that the government cannot make such a commitment because it cannot control the net migration figure because it has no control over the number of people emigrating. If no one emigrated in any given year, the net immigration figure would rise.


He said that the focus on a given target figure forces the government to attack all immigration when, the public is not concerned about all immigration and some immigration is beneficial to the country. For example, the public does not object to foreign students coming to the UK. Foreign students contribute a great deal of money to the economy. And yet, in order to reach the 'tens of thousands' target, the government has taken action to cut their numbers. The public does not object to skilled workers and yet the government has introduced a cap on their numbers too. This is damaging to UK business. Many small businesses now say that they cannot afford to bring in skilled workers from outside the European Union because of the bureaucracy involved. The number of student visas granted in the last year is down by 21%.


Mr Cridland said that the higher education market was worth £15bn per annum and was being badly affected by the government's policies. He said 'It's partly a perception issue. There's been so much rhetoric that it's creating its own reality. It's putting people off.'


Boris Johnson, the maverick Mayor of London, also criticised the government for damaging the export education sector. Speaking before an official visit to India, the mayor said that the UK's export education sector was being damaged by government policy to limit student numbers.


The UK Border Agency revoked London Metropolitan's Highly Trusted Sponsor status in August 2012 which meant that it was no longer entitled to admit students from outside the European Economic Area. Mr Johnson said 'We are losing a massive business opportunity here, which is completely crazy for the UK market, which is brilliant at education, to be closing itself off from some of the best and brightest students from around the world'.


However the immigration minister Mark Harper said yesterday that it was 'wrong to suggest that controlling mass immigration did anything but help the economy. We actively encourage the brightest and the best migrants but businesses must wean themselves off their addiction to immigration.'

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UK Border Agency: Website of fake university is removed

An investigation carried out by Somerset County Council has seen the fake 'Glastonbury University' website removed.
It was feared that the website, which promoted a fictitious university, was being used to target unsuspecting applicants, particularly in the Far East. A London university reported the site after receiving an application from a student who claimed to have a degree from Glastonbury University.
Investigations by Somerset County Council trading standards officers have resulted in the domain name and site being removed by specialist Metropolitan Police officers.

The investigation also revealed that the address given on the website for the university is actually an empty office building in the centre of town, and the impressive glass building featured on the site is in fact a library belonging to the University of Leicester.

The trading standards investigation involved contact with overseas companies and regulators including the Florida FBI, as well as correspondence with central government, and culminated in the domain name's removal from the world wide web. This was achieved in co-operation with the police central e-crime unit of the Metropolitan Police.

UK hospitals cut jobs but still hire abroad



Hospital bosses have spent thousands of pounds on trips to recruit foreign doctors and nurses, while laying off their own staff.

 By Laura Donnelly, Health Correspondent, The Telegraph, 11 September 2011

Visits to destinations including India and Dubai took place as the NHS drew up plans to cut 20,000 jobs for front line health workers.

An investigation by The Sunday Telegraph has found that at least 11 NHS trusts and one health authority sent teams abroad to recruit doctors and nurses, despite such posts being earmarked for cuts.

The trips were organised despite pledges by David Cameron to cap immigration and protect British jobs, and concerns raised last week by Lord Winston, one of Britain's most senior doctors, that some nurses from Eastern Europe put patients in danger because of poor standards of English. The head of the Royal College of Nursing also condemned the visits as "incomprehensible and unacceptable".

Dartford and Gravesham Trust in Kent sent a team to Romania in November and hired 20 nurses, even though Barts and the London NHS Trust, less than 20 miles away, was drawing up plans to cut 635 posts including more than 250 jobs for nurses.

Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals Trust sent seven managers to Dublin in October, returning with seven nurses. Less than two months later, it disclosed plans for 100 redundancies.

More than 10,000 doctors and nurses who trained overseas registered to work in Britain in the first 12 months of the Coalition. There was a 53 per cent rise in foreign nurses who registered with British regulators, from 2,804 to 4,303, while the number of foreign doctors increased by eight per cent from 5,359 to 5,811.

The number of nurses from outside the European Union, where an immigration cap applies, went from 635 to 1,307.

Dr Peter Carter, the Royal College's general secretary said it was "absolutely crazy" that hospital trusts had gone abroad to recruit.

"It is incomprehensible and unacceptable to have these sorts of recruitment trawls abroad when so many staff are being laid off, and so many newly qualified nurses can't find work," he said.

Dr Carter accused hospitals of failing to work together and said the Government had encouraged "fragmented" policies instead of joint planning to fill vacancies with those who had been laid off or newly-qualified nurses.

A central body, NHS Employers, negotiates general terms and conditions but recruitment is left to trusts. Hiring staff abroad usually means paying commission to agencies, which charge up to £11,000 to fill each post.

The RCN has identified more than 40,000 posts which have been axed or earmarked for cuts within three years, under NHS plans to save £20 billion. More than half are estimated to be clinical posts, filled by doctors, nurses and health care assistants.

Wendy Cupid, a senior nurse from Hayes, west London, was made redundant in July when her trust, NHS Hounslow, was restructured. Despite more than 16 years' experience, she could not get a job and was left feeling "like a failure". Responses to freedom of information requests show that 12 trusts sent more than 50 staff abroad to recruit in the year after the election, bringing back 182 nurses and midwives and 24 doctors.

Each said it had failed to recruit at home. Some said filling vacancies abroad was cheaper than using locums and agency staff. Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust spent more than £7,500 sending a team of eight to Madras, India, to recruit 11 doctors in June last year. Months later it announced plans to cut 62 medical and surgical staff.

Northampton General Hospital Trust went to Italy and Portugal in December to hire 28 nurses and midwives. In May it announced plans to cut 310 posts over two years. Last week Lord Winston, professor of fertility studies at Imperial College London, told the House of Lords of his concerns about eastern European nurses. He said he was particularly worried about those from Romania and Bulgaria who had limited communication skills "even in their own language" and were not used to talking to patients or doctors.

Katherine Murphy, chief executive of the Patients Association, said: "We hear from patients that there are real issues with nurses from other countries including problems communicating with patients and a lack of understanding of processes and procedures."

Not every attempt to recruit was successful. Sylvia Gomes, neonatal matron at West Hertfordshire Trust, was given £500 towards a flight to Mumbai in January to visit her family, combined with an "opportunistic" attempt to recruit nurses. None was hired, as the Home Office would not provide work permits.

Simon Burns, the health minister, said: "NHS employers are only allowed to employ foreign doctors and nurses if there are no suitable staff available in the UK or European Economic Area."