KATHMANDU: The Nepal government is making preparations to send 10,000 nurses to the United Kingdom.

The Ministry of Employment and Social Security has not made public the level of nursing manpower to be sent.

Rajiv Pokharel, head of the ministry’s employment management division, said the criteria for nurses going to the UK would be made public once the cabinet approves the labor agreement.

Mankumari Rai, president of the Nursing Association of Nepal, shared that she had received information about the demand for 10,000 staff nurses from the UK.

Out of the 10,000 nursing manpower demanded by the British government, only 150 nurses are being in the first phase, said Rajiv Pokharel.

Pokharel said that additional manpower would be sent only after looking into all the aspects including pay perks for those going in the first phase.

According to the Nepal Nursing Council, 598 specialists, 67,316 nurses, 28 midwives, 36,446 ANMs and 845 foreign nurses have been registered in Nepal so far.