Nurses and midwives who have been trained outside Europe will now have to face shorter assessments in order to check whether they are suitable for working in UK.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council informed that its plan consists of tests in simulated clinical scenarios and a computer based-exam. These will be replacing the minimum three months of supervised practices which is required currently, said the regulator. However nurses leaders have warned that they will need more details so that they can make sure the checks are sufficient.

About 10 per cent of workforce registered to work in Britain presently consists of nurses and midwives who have been trained outside Europe.

Almost 1,000 nurses come from outside the European Economic Area to work in U.K every year. Majority of these nurses are from India, Philippines and Australia.

According to the NMC, one of the major reasons behind this change is that the current supervised placements are time taking

Experts have reported that the applicants face a lot of trouble to obtain places on the programme because they are in short supply. The new tests will begin in autumn.

The NMC informed that similar checks have been adopted by other healthcare regulators already. "The new system will not replace the need for employers to ensure that the staff they recruit display the behaviours, skills and knowledge necessary for the specific role to which they are recruited, and provide further support and development as required" said the NMC chief executive, Jackie Smith.

The executive director of nursing at Royal College of Nursing, Janet Daveis said "Health care in the UK relies on the hard work and dedication of many nurses who trained overseas. These proposals may well form part of a more robust and consistent mechanism for ensuring that nurses who work in the UK are equipped to practise in the UK.However, we need to know more about how nurses will be evaluated as part of this system before we can judge whether or not the system is adequate."

Figures indicate that NMC registrations are held by around 67,000 nurses and midwives who have been trained outside Europe. This adds to the correct workforce of over 6000,000 midwifery and nursing staff who have been trained within Europe and have registration with UK regulator.