A post shared on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, claims the National Health Service (NHS) has discovered 700 Nigerian nurses with fake qualifications. 

BREAKING NEWS: In the UK, the NHS found 700 Nigerian nurses had fake qualifications as people stood in for their exam.

Nigeria is considered a ‘red list’ country for the recruitment of health professionals, meaning poaching of staff could endanger its own health and care system. pic.twitter.com/tJ9JnyGxop

— PSAFLIVE (@PSAFLIVE) September 26, 2023

Verdict: False

The claim is inaccurate. There is no evidence the NHS is conducting such an investigation. The NMC, an organization the NHS directed us to, confirmed this is a false in an email to Check Your Fact.

Fact Check: 

British health secretary Steve Barclay announced that transgender women are to be banned from female NHS wards, according to The Independent. Barclay stated that the changes “would protect the privacy, dignity and safety of all patients,” The Guardian reported.

An X post claims that the NHS has found 700 Nigerian nurses guilty of having people stand in for their exams. The post shares a photo of four Black professionals in scrubs.

“BREAKING NEWS: In the UK, the NHS found 700 Nigerian nurses had fake qualifications as people stood in for their exam,” the post reads. “Nigeria is considered a ‘red list’ country for the recruitment of health professionals, meaning poaching of staff could endanger its own health and care system.”

There is no evidence for this claim, however. There are no credible news reports about the NHS conducting this investigation.  (RELATED: Did The NHS Remove The Word ‘Woman’ From Their Website?)

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) found that 48 Nigerian nurses are suspected of obtaining fake qualifications, with an additional 669 nurses and midwives suspected of fraud, according to Daily Mail. The post’s claim that Nigeria is a “red list” country for the NHS is accurate, meaning that Nigeria cannot be a target for international recruitment, according to the U.K. government’s website. 

“Yes this is a false claim,” the NMC told Check Your Fact in email. “We consider that 48 professionals on our register and 669 people in the application stage, who took their CBT at the Yunnik test centre, achieved their score in a time we believe is more likely than not to indicate that they obtained their result fraudulently.”

“To be clear, this only relates to one part of the two-part Test of Competence – which is the Computer Based Test (CBT) – that internationally trained professionals must pass before they’re able to join our register. No final decision has been made and this does not relate to people’s original nursing/midwifery qualification.”

Check Your Fact has reached out to the NHS for comment and will update this piece accordingly if one is received.