SECTOR CAREER RESEARCH AND OPPORTUNITY AWARENESS

UK NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE (NHS)

Name:

Institution:

Date:
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Table of Contents
1.0 Introduction and overview...................................................................................................3
2.0 Analysis................................................................................................................................3
2.1 Expected industry trend and key developments...............................................................3
2.1.1 Expected industry trend.............................................................................................3
2.1.2 Key developments......................................................................................................4
2.2 Impact on employment and recruitment...........................................................................5
2.3 Requirements for nursing role..........................................................................................6
3.0 Conclusion............................................................................................................................8
4.0 References............................................................................................................................9
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1.0 Introduction and overview

The United Kingdom National Health Service (NHS) is an inclusive public-health service
which is ran by government administration who finance it from general taxes while in areas
of Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland it is run by the devolved government. this sector
emerged after aftermath of second world war and begun operating in 1946 under the National
Health Act (Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia,2013). The entire population of UK is
fully covered with an exception of minor charges charged. In every nation of UK, NHS has a
distinct organization and structure and comprises of two wide sectors: one handling strategy,
management and policy and the other having the clinical care which is categorized into
primary based care, secondary based care and tertiary care (Grosios, Gahan and Burbidge,
2010). Recently changes have emerged which have removed the barriers which existent
between secondary and primary care stressing much on the choice of patient (Brown, 2002;
Wanless, 2004). The government of 2008 reinforced this strategy in what it referred to as
“high quality for all” and the government of 2010 referred to their strategy to as ‘Equity and
Excellence’ (Department of Health, 2010; Secretary of State for Health, 2008) liberating the
NHS.

2.0 Analysis
2.1 Expected industry trend and key developments
2.1.1 Expected industry trend
The NHS of UK was not spared by the wave of Covid-19. The health sector found itself
having challenges of offering medical services to those with the virus and those ailing from
other illnesses. This has seen some light of hope from the vaccination programs and the
sector is aiming to emerge out of this crisis from mass vaccination ever in history (Cookson,
2021). In addition, the medical insurance and health market are anticipated to register a
healthy Compound annual growth rate of 5.05% during 2021-2026 forecasted period. The
private healthcare market is anticipated to achieve by 2025 USD 13.8 billion because of the
rise in the waiting time and referrals made from the NHS to the sector. The public has given
priority to the health cover since health care is voted as the most vital aspect of government
spending. Hence the UK NHS has become more protected because of the political awareness
on the spending of NHS to general health coverage.

The economy of UK is a bit stable with very few cases of unemployment. After a struggle to
beat Covid-19, the economic recovery recently is anticipated to improve employment
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conditions and wages in which reforms in NHS are anticipated to demand for the role of
private insurance and healthcare sector since the evolving demographic profile of the UK can
increase the straining on the public health system.

NHS has played a great role in ensuring that UK upholds a broad social security system. The
political crisis seems to be a big drawback to the economy of UK but the nation has a
vigorous economic growth, low inflation as well as low unemployment which is a huge plus.
Wellness and health are termed primary by employers in offering health benefits to their
workers. Around 45% of employers in this region have opted to include the well-being and
health of their workers to their organization goals for a period of three years. With the
increase in productivity and the growth in awareness of the health coverage provided, this
sector is anticipated to exhibit projecting growth during the period forecasted (Mordor
intelligence, 2021).

2.1.2 Key developments

The NHS in UK has undergone various changes since its introduction and it is constantly
evolving. Below are some of the major developments which have shaped the NHS existing
today.

2.1.2.1 Free health service

The UK NHS was established as a universal health system under the government. The
services are free from then until today hence no charges of seeing a doctor. Nevertheless,
those using NHS pay a small fee for dental treatment, eye treatment and for prescription
(Delamothe, 2008).

2.1.2.2 Mental health services

In England, mental health care was acquired in psychiatric and asylums institutions. An
approximation of 100,000 of mentally challenged people were cared within institutions but
later this was shut down and instead offered within the community (The king's fund, 2021).
With administration of antipsychotic drugs, victims needed services at home. The public had
shifted their interest in asylum services due to mistreatment and all these factors lead to
deinstitutionalization and the mental health act.

2.1.2.3 Restructuring the NHS

Previously, health care services were divided between local authorities and NHS. Local
authorities managed primary and social care while the hospital services were managed by
regional board answerable to the government. Through the NHS Reorganisation Act, local
NHS institutions for managing all health services were established. This marked a great
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change made by government to give strategic direction and a move towards integrated health
service (The king's fund, 2021).

2.1.2.4 NHS plan

The NHS plan contained ambitious reforms from year 2000 (Policy Navigator, 2000). With
long queues for treatment, plan to reduce the waiting time was established. This plan has seen
the development of foundation trusts- facilities with bigger independence from the central
government and accountability on side of local communities which was followed by rise in
funding.

2.2 Impact on employment and recruitment

After the NHS restructuring, the health sector brought about the change agenda which aimed
at recruiting more workforce and introduce new pay system and this was to cover over one
million staff. The objective was to improve service delivery to patients and enhance
recruitment of staff, motivation and retention and bring about new working ways (Buchan, J.
and Evans, D., 2008).

Likewise, after making health services free, the NHS became the largest employer in UK
having an approximate of 1.3 million staff and spending billions like shown in the figure
below. This has risen consistently which saw employment of 1.6 million staff in 2015-2016
in the four national health services (Campbell and Duncan, 2016). The workforce in 2014 in
UK was 2,165,043 with England having 1,789,586, Scotland 198,368, Wales 110,292 and
Northern Ireland 66,797(Cowper, 2016). In the year 2017, the number of registered nurses
rose to 691,000 from 1,783 0f previous year. Within 24 hours, millions of patients visit health
facilities in UK and with the 1.7 million employees, this sector becomes the fifth biggest
employer in the globe (Triggle, 2018) and biggest non-military public corporation
(Tombs,2014).

Figure1: UK government spending on health

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Source: Clark, 2021

Furthermore, the reforms have made it possible for recruiting of new efforts for all
professions and roles in the sector. Currently, people need to be recruited urgently to NHS
trace and test, to run the unexpected winter flue vaccination and also possible the
Coronavirus vaccination campaign (NHS England, n.d.). The outbreak of Covid-19 strained
much the existing workforce in UK and this shortage of staff has made the government to
plan for oversea recruitment of at least 50,000 workers (The king's fund, 2019).

According to Maguire (2021), the NHS plan has needs to give guidance on employment for
future. The plan needs NHS to expand range and number of apprentices on offer, offering
direct route to permanent employment more so for volunteers through working closely to
universities and colleges. This recruitment initiative will have effect on entry to NHS jobs
and people with low levels of skills will venture in professional jobs and professional
development of those already working with NHS.

2.3 Requirements for nursing role

When I was choosing my own career path, I needed to become a nurse although other jobs
were available in the health sector. As I was going through developments, my interest of
becoming a nurse was accelerated by my career aspiration of becoming a nurse particularly in
UK. This was due to the fact that Drake Medox makes sure every nurse gets a competitive
package on offer which include global access to free NHS services, sponsorship, salary
equivalent as for the other counterparts, free training on computer-based test and Objective
Structured Clinical Examination preparation and a welcome pack after arriving to the station
(Careers.drakemedox, n.d). Currently, the UK NHS is having staff shortage crisis and has a
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plan of making international recruitment and better retention of the existing workforce thus
this gives me a good opportunity.

The requirements of qualifying for the position include (admin, 2020):

Being registered and fully qualified nurse

 Nursing degree
 Possess one-year experience in nursing
 Registered for a nursing license

Ability to speak good and fluent English

To demonstrate possession of good English, the International English Language Testing

System (IELTS) or Occupational English Test (OET) need to be cleared:

 Academic IELTS having 6.5 in writing as well as 7 in areas remaining

 OET having C+ in writing as well as B in areas remaining

Be present for Job Interview

Once one has cleared the OET or IELTS with the needed scores, the international Nurse force
will conduct an interview through zoom, skype or any other video platform with UK clients.

 Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) self -assessment

One will need to fill an online self-assessment which will approve if they are eligible to make
application for registration of NMC. One will also be required to confirm if they meet good
character, English language and health requirements.

Qualify in Computer Based Test (CBT)

The NMC is a body which registers all nurses working in UK and the registration is done
through computer-based test which can be conducted in various test centers across the globe.
The test comprises of 120 multiple-choice questions.

NMC Application Evaluation
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One will require to submit various documents to NMC to enable evaluation on whether one
qualifies for the nursing position in UK. Once all the documents have been received by
NMC, the application will be evaluated by one member of the Global registration team.

Sent Documents to Employer

Through the process of recruitment, one will require to send several documents to
International Nurse Force, which will then be submitted to the employer. These documents
guarantee that one can legally and safely work in UK as a nurse.

Some of the documents to be submitted include:

 A home country police check

 NHS application form

 References

 Proof of address documents

Go through Objective Structured Clinical Examination and pass to be issues with NMC PIN

Since NHS is highly differentiated system, as nurses we have shifts which allow the other
nurses to take charge and complete any task at hand in time. This is because all the tasks
pertaining nurses need similar skills, experience and behavior. In each shift every nurse has to
have a plan according to ensure all the tasks are completed in each 12-hour section (Griffiths
et al.,2014).

3.0 Conclusion
The NHS of UK has been gradually becoming better hence evolving to be among the largest
health care in the globe. The government has been taking responsibility of ensuring free
services and this has ensured equity. Through the White Paper of 2010, the government had a
plan of developing the health system to be a more patient-centered system. The sector has
gone through various developments which involved restructuring the sector like the NHS
plan which advocated for reduction in waiting time, restructuring the mental health sector by
deinstitutionalizing the asylums to community- based treatment. Through these
developments, the sector is expected to improve the private sector to reduce the waiting time
in NHS which has been recently long due to Covid-19 outbreak. Likewise, the working
conditions and payment means are expected to improve since the UK demographic is
expected to rise constraining the workers. Although this sector receives drawbacks from
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political crisis, the growth in the economy has made employers to recognize health and well-
being of their employees. Moreover, the developments have enabled rise in employment and
recruitment whereby the workforce gaps are likely to be filled with the plans the sector has.
The plans of increasing workforce more so the nurses aim at improving service delivery to
patients as well as improving the community through collaborating with universities and
colleges to secure them entry jobs. The international community is also aimed at when
sourcing nurses. This has well matched with my career aspirations of becoming a nurse and
work in UK because of the benefits.
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4.0 References
admin, 2020. Requirements for International Nurses to Work in the UK. [Blog] global nurse
force, Available at: <https://globalnurseforce.com/blogs/requirements-for-international-
nurses-to-work-in-the-uk/> [Accessed 26 October 2021].

Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia.,2013. National Health Service. Encyclopedia

Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/National-Health-Service

Brown, B., 2002. Shifting the balance of power. Community Practitioner, 75(4), p.149.

Buchan, J. and Evans, D., 2008. Assessing the impact of a new health sector pay system upon
NHS staff in England. Human resources for health, 6(1), pp.1-7.

Campbell, D. and Duncan, P., 2016. 10 truths about Britain's health service. [online] the
Guardian. Available at: <https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/jan/18/10-truths-about-
britains-health-service?CMP=share_btn_tw> [Accessed 25 October 2021].

Careers.drakemedox.co.uk. n.d. We are hiring international Nurses to work in the UK!.

[online] Available at: <https://careers.drakemedox.co.uk/nurses/?
utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=nurse> [Accessed 26 October
2021].

Cookson, C., 2021. How the UK boosted its vaccine manufacturing capacity. [online] Ft.com.
Available at: <https://www.ft.com/content/662ab296-2aef-4179-907c-5dba5c355d86>
[Accessed 25 October 2021].

Cowper, A., 2016. Visible and valued: the way forward for the NHS’s hidden army. [online]
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October 2021].

D. Clark, 2021. Health spending UK 2021 | Statista. [online] Statista. Available at:

<https://www.statista.com/statistics/301992/health-spending-uk/> [Accessed 26 October
2021].

Delamothe, T., 2008. Founding principles. Bmj, 336(7655), pp.1216-1218.

Department of Health, 2010. Equity and excellence:: liberating the NHS (Vol. 7881). The
Stationery Office.
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Griffiths, P., Dall’Ora, C., Simon, M., Ball, J., Lindqvist, R., Rafferty, A.M., Schoonhoven,
L., Tishelman, C. and Aiken, L.H., 2014. Nurses’ shift length and overtime working in 12
European countries: the association with perceived quality of care and patient safety. Medical
care, 52(11), p.975.

Grosios, K., Gahan, P.B. and Burbidge, J., 2010. Overview of healthcare in the UK. EPMA
Journal, 1(4), pp.529-534.

Maguire, D., 2021. How has the NHS People Plan 2020/21 influenced the future of the NHS
as an employer?. [Blog] The king's fund, Available at:
<https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/blog/2021/04/how-has-people-plan-influenced-nhs-
employer> [Accessed 25 October 2021].

Mordor intelligence, 2021. United Kingdom Health and Medical Insurance Market | 2021 -
26 | Industry Share, Size, Growth - Mordor Intelligence. [online] Mordorintelligence.com.
Available at: <https://www.mordorintelligence.com/industry-reports/united-kingdom-health-
and-medical-insurance-market> [Accessed 25 October 2021].

NHSEngland, n.d. NHS England » Focus on recruitment. [online] England.nhs.uk. Available

at: <https://www.england.nhs.uk/ournhspeople/online-version/growing-for-the-future/focus-
on-recruitment/> [Accessed 25 October 2021].

Policy Navigator, 2000. NHS Plan (2000) | Policy Navigator. [online] Available at:
<https://navigator.health.org.uk/theme/nhs-plan-2000> [Accessed 25 October 2021].

Secretary of State for Health ed., 2008. High quality care for all: NHS next stage review final
report (Vol. 7432). The Stationery Office.

The king's fund. 2019. Closing the gap: key areas for action on the health and care
workforce. [online] Available at: <https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/publications/closing-gap-
health-care-workforce> [Accessed 25 October 2021].

The king's fund. 2021. Case study 1: Deinstitutionalisation in UK mental health services.

[online] Available at: <https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/publications/making-change-
possible/mental-health-services> [Accessed 25 October 2021].

Tombs, R., 2014. The English and their history. Penguin UK.

Triggle, N., 2018. 10 charts that show why the NHS is in trouble. [online] BBC News.
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Wanless, D., 2004. Securing good health for the whole population. London: HM Stationery
Office.