In a significant development, 3,173 nurses and midwives trained in Nigeria were licensed to practice in the United Kingdom within a year, according to an exclusive report from the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). The data, covering the period from April 1, 2023, to March 31, 2024, highlights a notable trend in the migration of healthcare professionals from Nigeria to the UK.
As of March 31, 2024, the NMC report indicated that there were 826,418 nursing and midwifery professionals registered in the UK. Out of this total, 13,656 were educated in Nigeria. Within the 12-month period leading up to March 31, 2024, 3,173 Nigerian-trained professionals joined the UK register for the first time. This reflects a 28.3% increase in the number of Nigerian nurses and midwives practicing in the UK compared to the previous year.
Nigeria ranks among the top non-UK countries of education for nursing and midwifery professionals, alongside India (62,413), the Philippines (49,092), Romania (7,378), and Ghana (5,536).
The World Health Organization (WHO) has previously highlighted that Nigeria, along with 54 other countries, faces critical challenges related to the health workforce, particularly in achieving universal health coverage. The impact of COVID-19 and widespread disruptions to health services have driven health workers in these countries to seek better opportunities in wealthier nations. In response, the UK government placed Nigeria and 53 other countries on the red list, advising against active recruitment of health and social care workers from these nations.
Despite these restrictions, the NMC report shows a continuous rise in the number of new nursing and midwifery professionals joining the UK register, with nearly 60,000 new registrations this year. The new joiners are almost evenly split between UK-educated professionals (30,363) and internationally educated ones (29,628). Notably, international joiners have seen an 18% increase compared to the previous year, with nearly half (14,615) being educated in India.
In Nigeria, the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives reported that over 75,000 nurses and midwives left the country in the past five years in search of better opportunities abroad. This mass exodus has exacerbated the ongoing shortage of health workers in Nigeria, posing significant challenges to the healthcare delivery system and limiting access to care for many people.
