A circular issued to its administrative units by the Ministry of Health of Saudi Arabia indicates that contracts with foreign nurses who have completed 10 years of service will now be terminated, a report in “The Saudi Gazette” said.

However, specialists in the fields of hemodialysis, emergency and ICU medicine – who cannot be immediately replaced by Saudis – will be retained, the report said.

The localisation plan does not apply to nurses working for primary healthcare centres in remote areas unless a capable Saudi replacement is found. The report quoted an official source at the ministry as saying that it has been made obligatory for administrative units to strictly abide by these guidelines.