Working in ‘Perfect Harmony’? Overseas Recruitment and Mental Health Nursing in England, 1948–1968

Abstract

In May 1964, the Daily Express newspaper featured a photograph of nursing staff from 34 different countries at an English mental hospital, standing in a line with their arms linked, together with the matron. According to the feature writer, these nurses lived and worked in ‘perfect harmony’. This article examines the broader issues that this image raises, by analysing international recruitment to mental health nursing in England between 1948 and 1968 and the impact this had on these recruits, their patients and colleagues. It will also discuss the ethical issues that ensued.

When the National Health Service (NHS) was implemented in the UK in 1948, the shortage of nurses, across all specialities, was so severe that its viability was threatened. Although the situation was to subsequently improve in general nursing, it continued to be an issue in what was then known as mental nursing, which experienced severe and ongoing problems in both the recruitment and retention of staff. This article is drawn from a wider study which analysed the strategies that were adopted to ameliorate this situation in England between 1948 and 1968, including the recruitment of mental health nursing students from an increasing number of overseas countries, which will be the focus of this article. The Republic of Ireland had been a major source of nursing labour before 1948, but when recruitment began to be resisted by the Irish government and alarm over poor staffing levels intensified, English mental hospitals moved their recruitment activity to other European countries and to the British Commonwealth.