DOLE: New registration process for UK-bound nurses, midwives

Starting September, Filipinos wanting to work in the United Kingdom as nurses and midwives may have to comply with a new registration process, the Department of Labor and Employment said.

DOLE Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said the new process of the UK Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) applies to nurses and midwives educated outside the European Union (EU) and the European Economic Area (EEA).

Labor Attaché to the UK Joan Lourdes Lavilla said this is part of the UK NMC’s efforts to protect migrant workers from exploitation, while emphasizing equality, fairness, and transparency in the application process.

The process includes:

– a test of competence replacing the overseas nursing programs (ONP) and adaption to midwifery programs (AMP). The two-part test includes a computer-based multiple-choice examination and a practical objective-structured clinical examination (OSCE), but the costs of the tests have not yet been determined.

– practical exam to be held in the UK, initially at a test center at the University of Northampton, to be subsequently broadened out to encompass more centers.

Preparation

Lavilla said the new application will let applicants prepare for the test of competence in their home countries before relocating to the UK.

“The computer-based examination is the first part of the test of competence and must be successfully completed before nurses and midwives can undertake the OSCE in the UK,” Lavilla said.

“With this, applicants can plan and save for the cost of coming to the UK to complete the OSCE,” she added.

Transition arrangements

The DOLE said non-EU/EEA-educated applicants who have already joined the NMC register may have to follow transition arrangements:

– Applications processed before October 2014 will still be processed using the current arrangements and applicants will receive a decision letter requiring them to complete the ONP or AMP within two years from the date of the decision letter.
– In October 2014, non-EU/EAA-educated applicants who have been issued with a decision letter prior to September 2014 will be informed of the new test of competence and offered a choice of accessing the current program or the test of competence.
– For applications received from October 2014, the test of competence will be the only route to UK registration for non-EU/EEA-educated nurses and midwives.

Lavilla said applicants can access additional information regarding the application process at http://www.nmc-uk.org/Documents/Registration/Information%20for%20applicants%20-%20overseas%202014.pdf END/charmaineilabmorallos. — Joel Locsin /LBG, GMA News