Demand for nurses in the UK has increased in the last four months, with London having the greatest shortage. Demand in the capital is four times higher than recruiters can supply.

General manager of Allied Healthcare Group, Jan Baum, told Recruiter magazine, “There’s a huge demand for critical staff and midwives, so recruiting, managing and retaining them is more challenging for agencies.”

Baum said many nurses are leaving the UK since new standards require six months of post-graduation experience in a specialisation before being hired. Many British nursing graduates are being lured away by recruiters from Alberta Canada, and nurses from the Philippines are more often choosing the United States over the UK.

Many recruiters have resorted to offering nurses bonuses or paying for the cost of travel, or for required criminal background checks.