Many qualified workers from Eastern Europe are
finding it difficult to complete the paperwork necessary to continue their
careers due to chaos and red tape in their home countries.
Stanka Ignatova, 24,
qualified as a midwife in her homeland of Macedonia
in 1998. She married a UK
citizen last year, and now plans to make her life in the UK.
She wants to return to midwifery, but has found the hurdles too great to
overcome, and is currently working in a local factory for around £11,000 a
year.
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"I find it frustrating," she told Personnel Today. "The forms
the NHS sent me require very detailed information on my education. I need to
get those details from my colleges in Macedonia,
but Macedonia
is in such a mess that it is impossible to track down my details.
"It is difficult to know which way to turn," Ignatova
added. "I should be able to take a practical test for my skills and
attitudes to be assessed, but the NHS tells me they do not have such a system
in place."