Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of fast-tracking accreditation for internationally-trained healthcare professionals to help increase local staffing levels.

Healthcare professional regulators are the independent bodies responsible for safeguarding patient and public safety by ensuring that only those meeting the necessary standards can be added to their registers and work in the United Kingdom, whether qualified in the UK or overseas.

As healthcare regulators are independent of Government, it is for regulators to determine the required processes and thresholds for registration. Some regulators already provide supported pathways for different groups of overseas qualified professionals, for example, refugees.

Current arrangements under provisions in the EU Exit Regulations, known as the ‘standstill’ provisions, ensure that UK regulators continue to automatically recognise relevant European Union, European Economic Area and Swiss healthcare qualifications as they did before the UK left the EU. This enables applicants holding these qualifications to achieve UK registration more quickly.

While achieving UK registration as an international healthcare professional should be as efficient and fast as possible, it is important that it remains a robust safeguard for patient protection.

In addition, the Government is committed to developing homegrown talent and giving opportunities to more people across the country to join our National Health Service. The 10 Year Workforce Plan will outline strategies for improving retention, productivity, training, and reducing attrition, enhancing conditions for all staff, while gradually reducing reliance on international recruitment, without diminishing the value of their contributions.