Migrant nurses: looking after Britain’s health
Migrant nurses: looking after Britain’s health
THE JOURNEY WE MADE ACROSS LAND AND SEA
TO BUILD A COUNTRY NOT MADE FOR ME
The banner you see when you enter the small exhibition at the Royal College of Nursing in London is sadly part of the experience of thousands of the nurses from overseas who have played a crucial role in Britain’s health in the last 150 years.
Racism and xenophobia are not the only negatives highlighted in Moved to Care: Stories of Health and Migration. There’s also the impact of this extraordinary contribution to British life on the nurses’ countries of origin — which invested in the education and training of the nurses but did not reap the full benefits.
And yet this modest one-room show is full of humanity, affection and generosity of spirit, best illustrated in the audio testimonies of nurses from all over the world and in the personal memorabilia: luggage tabs, a sandwich box, a diary, badges, photos, a sandwich box, a doll and lunchbox carried by Jewish children who arrived in Britain during the Second World War, many of whom went on to train as nurses.
There’s also a specially commissioned work, ‘Inside Home’, by Manchester-based artist and former NHS worker Haleema Aziz, inspired by the ‘Balikbayan box’ – a Filipino custom which sees migrant workers sending boxes containing gifts and other essentials back home to their loved ones.
“Creating this piece has been a labour of love and a reflection on my parents’ journey of leaving everything behind to arrive in a place of uncertainty,” Aziz declares. “The box carries not only material gifts, but also responsibility: the duty of caring for the people we could not bring with us, and the emotional weight of distance.”
A wall panel puts the objects and testimonies thoughtfully assembled for the show into perspective by noting that a quarter of the 794,000 registered nurses in the UK are nationals from other countries: “As nursing shortages show no signs of decreasing, health care in the UK relies on the experience of migrants, just as it did in past decades.”
But today’s international nursing staff still encounter difficulties, including visa problems, finding accommodation, discrimination and “a noticeable ethnicity pay gap” across the nursing sector: “In 2025, a staggering 42% of internationally educated nursing staff surveyed by the RCN said they intended to leave the UK.”
Sarah Chaney, RCN museum and events manager, said “These stories [in the exhibition] show the extraordinary resilience and creativity of nurses who have travelled across the world to care for others…
“We hope visitors gain a deeper understanding of how migration continues to shape the profession.”
* Moved to Care: Stories of Health and Migration, explores the contributions of migrants from across the globe to healthcare over the last 150 years, from the 19th century colonial legacy of missionary nurses to the Windrush Generation, free, 20 Cavendish Square, W1G OR until 2 September, after which it will relocate to Edinburgh. Info; Royal College of Nursing
Related events:
+ 22 April, Missionaries and Migrants: A history of nursing and empire, Subhadra Das and Kandace Chimbiri, 6.30 - 7.30pm, free
+ 9 July, From Lagos to London: Colonial Recruitment and Nigerian nurses in the UK, Mosunmola Ogunmolaji, 6 - 7.30pm
+ Writing workshops on exhibition themes for refugees, schoolchildren and young adults, in the RCN Library and Museum:
- 13 - 17 April: Romalyn Ante, writer in residence
- 26 - 30 May: Jenny Wong, writer in residence
- 22-26 June: Christie Watson, writer in residence
Photo credit: RCN / Justine Desmond’