The Nursing and Midwifery Council will stop administering the competence exams for foreign nurses in Britain because of the rules laid down by the European Commission.

The tests are against the European law, which provides freedom of movement for workers from the continent. After this move, foreign nurses in number of thousands will be treating NHS patients without any safety checks. Now the nurses won't even have to present the documents showing their work in the past three years.

At present, nurses from the European Commission have to prove that their work standards are up to the mark, only then they are allowed to work in the hospitals, care homes or surgeries. These work standards require either minimum of 450 hours of nursing in their own country in previous three years or they should have attended a three-month course with tests of their skills.

However, nurses from outside the European Commission will still have to appear for this test.

A recent research has shown that over 60,000 nurses in London are foreign, and a large number of these nurses hail from the Philippines.

University College Hospital, Guy's and St. Thomas and the Royal Free are among the hospitals, which appoint a large number for foreign nurses.