On October 7th the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) introduced their “new system” for international nurses -announced by a press release, which sounded rather exciting for those involved in international recruitment.
They announced key changes such as:
- Moving from a paper based to an online system
- Streamlining requirements
- An easy to understand guidance checklist
- A reduction in the cost of the CBT from £90 to £83
The idea being that these changes would lead to a reduction in processing times.
The introduction of the new process also created the flexibility for nurses to choose the order of their registration activities (CBT, OSCE, Documentation Validation).
It certainly sounded very positive and the changes were welcomed by many who argue the international recruitment process for non-EEA candidates isn’t as efficient as it could be in getting new international nurses on the register as soon as possible.
Just over a month in and we’re starting to have a much clearer idea of how this is impacting on the qualification process for international nurses.
A Summary of The Changes:
Previously international nursing candidates had to apply to the NMC in a very specific order:
- English Language Assessment
- CBT Test
- NMC Application (£140) – 60 days
- NMC Decision Letter
- OSCE
- NMC Registration Payment (£153)
Under the new system, the order is now changed. The candidates now have to pay for their NMC application as the first step. The NMC then perform an Eligibility Check to ensure the Qualification can be verified by the relevant Regulator.
- NMC Application (£140)
- Eligibility Check – 14 days
After 14 days, providing the nurse’s qualification is eligible, the candidate can then proceed to one of the following stages:
- Uploading their application form and documents
- Their NMC Payment (£153)
- CBT
- OSCE
In theory the above steps can be done in any order, but in reality for any international nurse currently out of country applying to come in on a Tier 2 visa, the CBT must be done first before the visa will be approved.
Once all components of the application are complete, only then will the NMC assess the application in its entirety.
What does this mean?
The Advantages of the New System:
- The totally online/digital approach that the NMC have taken is very much welcomed – the portal seems to be very user-friendly and intuitive and the checklists are helping to make it clear to candidates exactly what is required of them
- The time taken for nurses to arrive in the UK seems like it will be significantly speeded up for two reasons:
- Nurses can be studying for their CBT whilst they are waiting for their qualification to be verified (previously these activities had to happen separately)
- Nurses do not have to wait to get their “Decision Letter” before they apply for their visa which means they can get to the UK ~2 months earlier than they might otherwise do
- For nurses already in the UK, they now have the flexibility of what order to do their examination in – they are not confined to an overly-prescriptive process
- The NMC do not spend time evaluating NMC applications of candidates who cannot pass the OSCE because they only assess an application once all components are complete.
Potential Challenges of the New System:
- In reality the “flexibility” of the new process only really benefits those candidates in country already. The majority of international nurses applying from overseas will still have to pass their CBT first and then do their OSCE in country.
- However, the greatest potential challenge we see of the new system is that although international nurses being sponsored on visas will arrive in the UK much quicker, as the NMC will not evaluate applications until ALL components are complete, this means it will take nurses longer to qualify once they arrive in country.
If the NMC only evaluate an application after ALL components are complete (including the OSCE), and that evaluation process takes 35 days, in reality that means that unlike the current system where virtually as soon as the nurse passes their OSCE they can receive their NMC pin and start practising – under the new system it could be 35 days after receiving the OSCE results that nurses can practise!
Initially we thought it was fantastic that the £153 Registration Fee for international nurses could be paid immediately upon passing the CBT – mistakenly assuming that this meant the 35 days of application assessment would start as soon as this was paid and the relevant documents are uploaded. But this is not the case.
There is an argument that the NMC shouldn’t spend unnecessary time evaluating an application that will never progress because the candidate cannot pass the OSCE. However the danger with this is that it has the potential to create a huge associated cost for hospitals who need to spend an additional 35 days paying for supernumerary pre-registered nurses who would otherwise be practising within a week of passing the OSCE. The NMC have emphasised that it could well be that the assessment process could take less than 35 days – but there are no promises.
MHR Perspective:
It is our view that the new NMC process on the whole is significantly improved and it is fantastic to see these changes being introduced.
However, we do have some concerns for Employers who will need to employ nurses under a supernumerary period for a longer period of time as they wait for their PIN.
It would seem it may make more sense for the application assessment period to commence immediately after the CBT is passed and once the candidate has uploaded their documents – so that this could happen concurrently to nurses applying for their visa. And then (like under the current system) passing the OSCE would effectively “cement” the deal, enabling international nurses to receive their pin just a few days later.
If the candidate is paying for the privilege of having their application assessed, regardless of the few nurses who don’t pass the OSCE, in theory the NMC’s processing costs will still have been covered and this approach could create a more efficient system for both the nurses and the employers.
We are very interested to see how this evolves over the coming weeks.
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