Foreign nurses in Saudi may lose jobs amid localisation plans

Saudi Arabia has announced plans to localise nursing jobs in medical facilities across the kingdom, a move that could see foreign nurses to lose their jobs.In a circular to its administrative units, Saudi’s Ministry of Health (MoH) said that contracts with foreign nurses who have completed 10 years of service will be terminated, Saudi Gazette reported on Tuesday. However, specialists in the fields of hemodialysis, emergency and ICU medicine would be retained, it added. The plan also does not apply to nurses working for primary healthcare centres in the country’s remote areas unless a capable Saudi replacement is found. According to Saudi Gazette, the ministry will replace the foreign nurses gradually and localise around 300 senior nursing jobs over the next three years. The nursing profession is dominated by Filipinos, the report said, with approximately 133,000 Filipino nurses working in government and private hospitals across the country.