The NHS is to hire 5,500 nurses from India and the Philippines in a desperate bid to plug staff shortages, health officials have said.

The mass recruitment exercise follows an increase in the number of UK graduates abandoning the profession, and a sharp drop in the number of nurses coming to work in Britain from the EU.

It comes as the Health Secretary sparked fury by signalling that reforms to NHS pay for nurses and midwives could be modelled along the lines of controversial changes to contracts for junior doctors.

Jeremy Hunt said a “more professional pay structure” was required for more than 1 million workers, who can currently get rates of up to 60 per cent more pay for weekend shifts.

Mr Hunt said the government was not aiming to reduce the pay bill and would continue to pay a higher rate for weekend work. But he suggested the contract introduced for junior doctors after a bitter dispute could be a model for a new deal pay for other workers, describing it as “quite a sensible one”.

Officials from Health Education England yesterday revealed plans to hire 5,500 nurses from India and the Philippines, with 500 nurses due to be recruited from overseas by March.