Nursing agents telling overseas nurses different to what they get in UK, says chair of Indian nurses in UK

“The information just isn’t given out”, says Marimouttou Coumarassamy

LONDON June 2: Nursing agents are telling overseas nurses different to what they get in UK, says Marimouttou Coumarassamy, chair of the British Indian Nurses Association (BINA).

Speaking to Nursing Times he said that nurses who arrived recently were shocked to learn the housing rental costs and the cost of living when they arrive in the UK.

When they first get to the UK, international nurses are usually provided with temporary accommodation for between four and six weeks by their NHS trust. But, after that time, they must make their own housing arrangements. Marimouttou explained that this was when things became difficult for nurses and their families.

“Already the cultural change of coming here will be a big shock to them,” he said. “And they’re having to prepare for their exams. Finding accommodation is one more stress.

“The accommodation crisis hits everyone, but it’s particularly stressful for them.”

Marimouttou said many international nurses were shocked at how much it cost to rent in London and, increasingly, England more broadly.

Meanwhile, the difficulty of surviving on current NHS nurse pay rates amid the rising cost of living is an issue that has been by highlighted in recent months by unions and nurses who were going on strike.

According to Marimouttou, when being recruited, Indian nurses were told about the band 5 Agenda for Change salary of between £28,000 and £34,000, without being given any idea of what this wage can buy.

For a nurse coming from India, a country with a lower cost of living and lower average wages, Mr Coumarassamy said not giving a full idea of the outgoing costs – particularly in London and the South East – was unfair.

He continued: “After a nurse gets their PIN, they are told they will get £28,000 minimum, and overtime to earn even more.

“But most of that £1,700 a month will go on accommodation and bills. It makes it very hard for them to have a good quality of life.

“They will come to the UK thinking that their quality of life will be much better, the recruiters don’t tell them that they will lose however much in tax, National Insurance – the information just isn’t given out.”

Marimouttou said he did not think this was done intentionally to mislead nurses. Nonetheless, the effect could be devastating, he warned, with nurses moving into poor-quality, but still very expensive, housing.

To make matters worse, strict visa conditions limit the ability for spouses to work and access public funds, such as benefits, meaning some nurses who move with a whole family have to survive, at least at first, on one income.

“We recently had communications from someone in the Chelmsford area living in a really difficult situation,” Mr Coumarassamy said.

“They were all sleeping in the same room and there was mould in the house – and because she had a husband and two children, she couldn’t afford to move.”

Internationally educated nurses are becoming a larger part of the UK health workforce each year – but a growing number are questioning their treatment after they arrive.

Nurses and midwives trained outside of the UK now account for one in five (21%) people on the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) register, compared with 15% in 2019, as NHS recruiters have been increasingly turning to professionals from overseas to fill staffing gaps.

Such an influx of international nurses, heeding a call for help from the NHS, has a precedent: this year is the 75th anniversary of the landing of HMT Empire Windrush, which saw many Caribbean nurses coming to the UK and helping to build the health service.

However, the similarities between now and the arrival of the Windrush generation do not end at an increase in the number of registered nurses.

Much like the 1948 arrivals, who were shocked at their treatment in a country they viewed as ‘the motherland’, many internationally recruited nurses feel they have been mis-sold a way of life they are not able to have.

International nursing and midwifery associations (INMAs) are in place to support the diaspora with any issues they face. Marimouttou Coumarassamy, chair of the British Indian Nurses Association (BINA), told Nursing Times the main concern of Indian nurses, particularly in London, was the housing crisis.