The government has issued a code of practice for the NHS which is designed to eliminate the unethical recruitment of foreign doctors and nurses.

The Code of Practice for International Recruitment was developed with NHS employers, professional bodies, trade unions and commercial recruitment agencies. It sets out for the first time guidelines for NHS employers contracting with commercial recruitment agencies.

Agencies will be "blacklisted" if they charge fees for registration in the UK, fail to provide occupational health assessment and do not offer the same support and access to education and training as other UK-trained employees.

Health Minister John Hutton said: "This government is committed to the ethical recruitment of staff from overseas. International recruitment is beneficial to the NHS and provides an excellent learning opportunity for overseas health professionals which will in turn, enhance treatment and care in their countries of origin."

Forum Response: Nestor Healthcare Group

A spokesman for Nestor Healthcare Group told ePolitix.com: "We broadly welcome the launch of the Code, particularly the measures to protect countries where there is a risk of depleting their staffing resources and NHS commitment not to use agencies which do not conform to these measures. We regret, however, that some aspects of the Code address issues which are purely commercial, rather than matters of good practice and that the consultation which the Department claims to have carried out was never completed."

"We also regret that the International Recruitment unit at the DoH is seeking, through inter-governmental agreements, to lock commercial agencies out of foreign labour markets which are not at risk of depletion. This approach ignores the needs of hard pressed NHS Trusts, as commercial agencies can often deliver high quality staff from overseas more quickly and at lower recruitment costs than this central unit."

"If the government wish to follow their own policy of 'Shifting the Balance of Power', NHS Trusts should be free to choose whatever ethical and cost effective routes for recruitment work best for them. Trust managers do not need to be nannied or bullied like this."

"If the government wish to follow their own policy of seeking productive partnerships with the independent sector, agencies should not be faced with unjustified constraints on fair competition. The motivation of the Department, here, appears to be either ideological prejudice against agencies or a wish to make their own performance look better."