Private care homes are charging overseas nurses thousands of pounds if they leave their posts, an investigation has found.
The investigation by the Observer found that overseas nurses in NHS Trusts and private care homes are being charged up to £14,000 if they to change job or return home in order to recoup recruitment costs.
In one example reported by Unison a nurse from Zimbabwe was told to pay £10,850 when she asked to leave her care home.
Some nurses said they had been forced into debt or long-term payments when leaving their jobs while others said they were trapped by their contracts.
Patricia Marquis, director for England at the Royal College of Nursing, said: “International health and care nurses make an essential contribution to the health of our country. We are aware some employers include punitive clauses in the contracts of employment for overseas workers.
“This can result in health care staff being forced to pay thousands if they decide they want to work elsewhere if their visa allows. We have also heard of cases in which employers try to frighten and intimidate staff with threats of deportation should they choose to work elsewhere.
“The RCN is very concerned by this practice and will challenge it when appropriate. It flourishes in a climate of chronic understaffing in health and care. We want the government and employers to work with us to tackle the reasons why nurses might want to leave, whether that’s poor pay, terms and conditions, unsafe staffing, or any practices that devalue our hard-working nursing staff.”
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “International recruitment has long been part of the NHS workforce strategy and remains a critical part of our plans to deliver 50,000 more nurses in our NHS, alongside our ambitious plans to boost domestic supply.
“We are clear overseas staff should not be charged fees for recruitment services when gaining employment in the UK.
“We are grateful to all those who have come from abroad to train, learn and work in our fantastic NHS and social care sector.”
