ON the heels of the reimposition of the deployment ban for healthcare workers, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said nurses bound for the United Kingdom will still be allowed to leave despite the country already reaching the 5,000 annual deployment cap.
“There are no limits when it comes to nurses being deployed to the UK,” Bello said adding the UK sought for an exemption to the 5,000 cap.
Bello issued the clarification after the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, over the weekend, announced that the temporary deployment ban on newly-hired healthcare workers has been reimposed.
This, according to POEA Advisory No. 71-2021, was after the annual deployment ceiling of 5,000 newly-hired healthcare workers was reached as of June.
Bello said the Department of Labor and employment is looking at expanding the deployment cap to 10,000.
“We are studying it. Once we are able to determine that we have enough number of nurses and healthcare workers, it is possible that we can recommend to increase deployment,” he said.
He said they are looking to hold a meeting with all stakeholders by Thursday.
