By Liezel Longboan
We join the nation in marking the 75th anniversary of the National Health Service (NHS). Hundreds of Filipinos work in the health service – mostly as nurses – making up the third largest ethnic group in their workforce. In the last five years, they have made significant strides in being more visible at work and in the media, getting recognition for their professional excellence and dedication.
We mark this occasion to celebrate the contributions of Filipino nurses working in the NHS. Since Tinig UK started in 2020, we have been highlighting their successes as well as the issues they face.
During the pandemic, we were the first and only media outlet to point out the challenge of getting accurate data about Filipino healthcare workers in the NHS who died of Covid because of the lack of their ethnic category in the health service.
Here are seven interesting things about Filipino nurses working in the NHS that you may not be aware of.
1) 40,000 nurses – and more
According to estimates, about 40,000 Filipinos work for the NHS. This figure is based on news reports but does not indicate if this is UK-wide or only for England alone. The number will be much higher if we include Filipino nurses working in the private sector.
2) They are among the best in the world.
Filipino nurses have been shining in Britain in the last five years. May Parsons received the George Cross medal, the highest civilian gallantry award, on behalf of the NHS for having administered the first Covid vaccine outside of clinical trials. Six nurses have been awarded with the British Empire Medal (BEM) while several others have been recognised for their outstanding work. Read our article and know more about these outstanding nurses: Meet the UK’s award-winning Filipino nurses. If you know of others we missed, please get in touch and tell us!
3) Filipino healthcare workers had the highest number of deaths in the sector during Covid.
At the height of the pandemic, at least 80 Filipino healthcare workers died from Covid. Filipinos had the highest number of deaths among all healthcare workers of all ethnicities.
4) The first East Asian to win the Poetry London Prize 2018 is a Filipino nurse.
Romalyn Ante, a Filipino-British nurse-poet, is the first East Asian poet to win the Poetry London Prize in 2018. Her debut collection, Antiemetic for Homesickness, was shortlisted for the Jhalak Prize and Irish Times Best Poetry Book 2020.
5) They have started to take leadership roles in and outside of the NHS.
Since Covid, a few of them have risen to top positions within the NHS as well as in leading nursing organisations. May Parsons is now associate chief nurse director for risk governance and compliance at Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust. Jennifer Caguioa is the first internationally educated senior nurse and head of global at the Florence Nightingale Foundation. Edmund Tabay is the first Filipino to be appointed director of nursing for a newly created mega trust. Considering their number, however, their representation in NHS management remains low overall.
6) They now have their distinct Filipino ethnic category in the NHS.
The lack of a Filipino ethnic category in the NHS staff record during Covid-19 made it hard to get accurate data on how many Filipinos died during the pandemic. To address this issue, Filipino nurses worked together to have their own ethnic identity included in the NHS staff record.
7) They have become more visible and outspoken since the Covid pandemic.
Since the pandemic, Filipino nurses have become more vocal and visible at work, in the media and on online platforms. Many of them are active on Twitter, talking about their successes as well as the challenges they face at work. They have been giving interviews about their experience of bullying and racism, and have been sharing their opinions about nurses’ pay during the strikes in February.
