Why UK can no longer 'recruit' health workers from Ghana - Bright Simons explains

The vice president of IMANI Africa, Bright Simons, has given some clarification on reports that the government of the United Kingdom (UK) has barred the recruitment of health workers from Ghana and 53 other countries.

According to Simons, Ghanaian health workers have not been barred from travelling to the UK as being asserted but recruitment agencies in the country have now been stopped from active recruitment from Ghana and the other listed countries.

In a series of tweets shared on Monday, April 10, 2023, the IMANI vice president explained that the UK government red-listed recruitment from the 54 countries because the World Health Organization (WHO) has been forcing it to stop recruiting from these countries since 2020.

He added that the WHO had placed Ghana on its safeguard list to prevent the requirement of health professions from the country because they are needed locally.

“Reports that the UK has now placed Ghana & Nigeria on a 'red list' of countries from which nurses, doctors & care workers cannot migrate to the UK to work is NOT correct. Rather, Ghana & Nigeria have been on a WHO Safeguard List barring 'active recruitment' since 2020.

“The List, based on WHO's 2010 Global Code of Practice, is voluntary. The UK has been lax in enforcement despite domesticating the code. WHO reaffirmed the list in Jan 2023 & pressure from UK health unions increased on the UK to comply & stop recruiting from Red List countries.

“The List, based on WHO's 2010 Global Code of Practice, is voluntary. The UK has been lax in enforcement despite domesticating the code. WHO reaffirmed the list in Jan 2023 & pressure from UK health unions increased on the UK to comply & stop recruiting from Red List countries.

“Red List Health Workers themselves are not barred from migrating. But their "active recruitment" is barred. What this means is that employment agencies must not seek to attract health workers from such countries. The issue is that many intending migrants rely on such agencies,” parts of the tweets he shared read.

The National Health Service (NHS) of the UK, in a statement issued, explained that the listed countries have a UHC Service Coverage Index that is lower than 50 and a density of doctors, nurses and midwives that is below the global median (48.6 per 10,000 population).

It added that the list doesn’t prevent individual health and social care personnel from independently applying to health and social care employers for employment in the UK, of their own accord and without being targeted by a third party, such as a recruitment agency or employer (known as a direct application).

The countries placed on the red list of ‘No active recruitment’ under the code are Afghanistan, Angola, Bangladesh, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Kiribati, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Lesotho, Liberia.

The rest are Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Federated States of Micronesia, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Rwanda, Samoa, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, United Republic of Tanzania, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tuvalu, Uganda, Vanuatu, Republic of Yemen, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

View the tweets below:

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Reports that the UK has *now* placed Ghana & Nigeria on a "red list" of countries from which nurses, doctors & care workers cannot migrate to the UK to work is NOT correct. Rather, Ghana & Nigeria have been on a WHO Safeguard List barring "active recruitment" since 2020. pic.twitter.com/SNbxXzTS2D

— Bright Simons (@BBSimons) April 10, 2023

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Red List Health Workers themselves are not barred from migrating. But their "active recruitment" is barred. What this means is that employment agencies must not seek to attract health workers from such countries. The issue is that many intending migrants rely on such agencies.

— Bright Simons (@BBSimons) April 10, 2023