We will run comments online in a round-up at the end of the week. Just 46 nurses joined the Nursing and Midwifery Council ( NMC ) register in April , dropping from 1,304 last July , according to a BBC report . However , the introduction of English language testing for EU nurses is more to blame for the shortage of labour than the UK 's vote to leave the European Union , said Claire Billenness , director at staffing agency HCL Workforce . The test is aimed at an " academic " rather than a " working " understanding of English , and could lead to 90 % of nurses from the EU being employed , said Barry Pactor , group MD at Scottish Healthcare .
Just 46 nurses joined the Nursing and Midwifery Council ( NMC ) register in April , dropping from 1,304 last July , according to a BBC report . However , the introduction of English language testing for EU nurses is more to blame for the shortage of labour than the UK 's vote to leave the European Union , said Claire Billenness , director at staffing agency HCL Workforce . The test is aimed at an " academic " rather than a " working " understanding of English , and could lead to 90 % of nurses from the EU being employed , said Barry Pactor , group MD at Scottish Healthcare .