Vast opportunities for Kerala nurses in UK

Leading UK Immigration Adviser, Bison UK, feels that there are vast opportunities for Keralite nurses to work in the over 20,000 private care homes for the elderly in Britain.

Thousands of nurses will retire within the next few years and by 2010, there will be a huge shortage of nurses in the UK, Bison Managing Director Charles Kelly told newsmen in Kochi recently.

There is a shortage of staff for the elderly, the mentally challenged and those with learning disabilities, he said.

Asked about the stringent new immigration laws which could affect the job prospects of Indian doctors, he said Britain had decided to keep the new immigration rules on hold for the time being. The rules would not affect nurses, he said.

Bison and A Mark college, London, have teamed up with Indian Manpower Consultants, Euro Asia, to provide student visa services to people in Kerala to enable them to study in the UK. There are excellent opportunities for Indians to come to the UK to earn while they learn.

A Mark college is a fully accredited college, which provides a wide range of courses, including National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) Levels 2, 3 and 4 and the Popular Registered Managers Award (RMA) in health and social care, Cheeranjeev Bhasin, a trainer at the college, said. After a three-month course, the students are sent to care homes for getting on-the- job training, she said.

Euro Asia Managing Director, Thankachan, claimed his agency had sent 89 nurses to the UK. — PTI