U.K. strengthening its code on recruitment in developing countries.

LONDON -- "We are determined not to destabilize the healthcare system of developing countries. The NHS is expanding, but we're not going to do that at the expense of other countries", Health Minister John Hutton said after the the United Kingdom Department of Health announced plans to prevent the National Health Service organizations from recruiting healthcare staff from developing countries without a bilateral agreement. The Department plans to revise the existing code of practice on international recruitment adopted in 2001.

The UK is the first country to set standards for recruiting in developing countries. The code currently applies to 178 agencies and restricts recruitment from over 150 developing countries, including South Africa, other African nations and Asian countries.

The revised code effectively closes the loopholes in rules established in 2001 that prevented the NHS from recruiting staff from Third World countries unless there was an agreement between them. But hospitals have managed to evade this by taking on healthcare staff hired by agencies--which have not been previously covered by the rules--on short-term contracts that became extended indefinitely.

The main proposals for strengthening the code include:

* offering private sector employers that sign up to the code access to NHS international recruitment programmes to reduce 'back door' recruitment into the NHS;

* closing the loophole allowing healthcare providers to bring in locum and temporary staff from developing countries;

* extending the code to around 200 more agencies that work with the NHS on domestic recruitment--currently only agencies supplying overseas healthcare staff have to comply with the code.

Independent Contract Centres will have to sign on to the code if they are to operate under arrangements with NHS organizations. This will close a loop hold that allows Trusts to recruit temporary staff from developing countries and extend the code to cover even more recruitment agencies.

A Department of Health spokesperson confirmed that the new stricter policy would also apply to the recruiting of social workers, Ian Johnston, director of the British Association of Social Workers, said that he expected similar rules to be imposed on local authorities recruiting from abroad in the near future. "I think we are moving towards acquiring guidance for ethical recruitment in local authorities," he said. "We need this because we are now so dependent on overseas workers. If we do see this happening, my hope would be that social care employers would be more ethical and fairer in their recruitment practices than their NHS counterparts."