Home rapped after complaints by nurses

Nursing homes are among the places which offer training to overseas nurses

A nursing home has been banned from training overseas nurses, in the first case of its kind.

Accreditation was removed from the Avon Gorge Nursing Home in Leigh Woods, Bristol by the UK Central Council for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting (UKCC), the regulatory body for nurses.

It made the decision after investigating reports the overseas nurses were not receiving the supervised tuition they needed.

A shortage of UK trained nurses has opened up opportunities for those from overseas.

Some who want to register to work in the UK are asked to undergo a period of further training, either in the NHS or the private sector before they can be accepted by the UKCC.

Employers who take on overseas nurses for this period of supervised training are accredited by the UKCC.

This is what has been withdrawn from the Avon Gorge Nursing Home.

'Menial tasks'

The home, which also acted as a recruitment agency, employed 95 overseas nurses, who were mainly from the Philippines.

The nurses have claimed they had been poorly housed, paid less than promised and forced to carry out menial cooking and cleaning tasks, despite their qualifications.

When contacted by the BBC, the home refused to comment, but in earlier responses it has said some of the claims were false.

The UKCC said it made the decision after complaints from other employers and overseas nurses.

In a statement, the council said: "It is a matter of grave concern that Avon Gorge has not only knowingly allowed, but indeed promoted and organised placements at institutions which did not comply with the requirements.

"The UKCC believes that these actions of the management of Avon Gorge Nursing Home could compromise public protection and lead to the exploitation of overseas nurses."

UKCC Director of Business Systems Paul Hutchinson said: "The UKCC's guidelines on supervised training are designed both to protect the public and provide overseas nurses with the support they need.

"Employers who flout this guidance not only infringe the rights of practitioners but compromise standards of care for patients.

"That is why the UKCC has taken this action against Avon Gorge Nursing Home."