Plan to recruit Nepal nurses for NHS puts them ‘at risk of exploitation’

Pat Cullen, of the Royal College of Nursing, says that the government should ‘do more to invest in the domestic workforce’. Photograph: sturti/Getty Images

Plans to recruit nurses from Nepal to help plug shortages in the NHS will expose workers to an “unacceptable risk” of exploitation and should be halted until safeguards are in place, labour experts have warned.

The UK has been accused of pressing ahead with a hiring spree despite concerns about abusive practices by Nepali recruitment agencies, which are notorious for charging illegal fees that leave workers saddled with debt.