Limit social care recruitment from third world

Workers from around the world have played, and will continue to play, a huge part in ensuring the UK’s caring sectors meet their obligations to service users. Filipino nurses and Australian social workers, among others, have helped health bodies and social services departments to tackle high vacancy rates and cope with myriad government reforms.

Nearly 4,900 social workers from abroad have applied to register in England alone in the past two years, but a note of caution must also be sounded.

The biggest exporter of social workers to England so far is South Africa, while Zimbabwe also appears in the top 10. Should we be recruiting social workers from developing countries with numerous social problems of their own and which need staff to cope with them?

Of course, there is no way, and nor should there be one, of preventing overseas social workers seeking employment in the UK.

But councils here should not be allowed to actively recruit workers from developing countries, which is why we welcome the code on ethical international recruitment being produced by the Improvement and Development Agency.
Social work is rightly proud of its ethical practice. There should be no exceptions.

Additional reading
Code on cards to stop employers draining developing world of staff