As countries around the world relax travel restrictions and many sectors return to work, DataFlow Group has reported an upswing in employment application fraud by foreign healthcare workers seeking employment in the GCC’s healthcare sector. According to data collected by the organisation, overall fraud rates across all sectors have increased by 15 per cent when compared to the same period of 2020, with the healthcare sector being one of the top market segments attracting fraudulent applications.
In the last fifteen years, over 200 nationalities have used DataFlow Group’s verification services to apply for various roles within the GCC’s healthcare sector. During this period, DataFlow Group has processed more than 4.5 million checks to verify the accuracy of applications. According to data released by the International Labor Organization in 2021, the Gulf States region is a primary global destination for migrant workers. The number of foreign workers entering the region has increased substantially in recent years, with the proportion of migrant to local workers being among the highest in the world. According to the data, migrants in the six GCC countries account for over 10 per cent of all migrants globally, with the UAE being home to the fifth largest migrant population in the world.
Doctors and nurses
Healthcare attracts a large number of foreign workers. In a 2019 report, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) reported an increase in doctors and nurses in most OECD countries, driven by not only growing numbers of domestic graduates but also a rise in foreign-born and trained healthcare staff. In line with the increase in doctors and nurses educated abroad applying for roles within the GCC’s healthcare sector, DataFlow Group has reported a 12 per cent increase in fraudulent applications among doctors from 2019 to 2020. There has been a 72 percent increase among nurses, with India and the Philippines remaining the highest-risk countries and accounting for 73 per cent of the total number of frauds detected.
Sunil Kumar, DataFlow Group’s CEO, provided insights into factors that may be contributing to the increase in fraudulent applications. “Prior to the pandemic, we had witnessed a declining trend in document fraud. However, COVID-19 has led to increased levels of unemployment as organisations worked through restrictions and periods of lockdown. One sector that did not experience a rise in unemployment was healthcare. In fact, the World Health Organization estimated there will be a global shortage of 18 million health workers by 2030, with nurses making up approximately half of this gap.
“We are seeing non-resident nationalities who are seeking better employment opportunities and the chance to live and work in another country applying for roles within the GCC. Unfortunately, we have also witnessed a greater inclination for some to submit documents that have been tampered with to improve their chances of securing employment,” Kumar said.
While fraudulent applications have been detected in all sectors requiring qualified staff, DataFlow Group data indicates they are most prevalent in the engineering and healthcare sectors, with unqualified healthcare professionals posing a significant threat to society.
Kumar explained: “We have observed a 2% per cent forgery rate in healthcare, which is exceeded only by the engineering sector with a forgery rate of 3% per cent. While this initially may not sound like a lot, that equates to two doctors or nurses out of every hundred healthcare professionals not being qualified to perform their role competently. The consequences of this can be dire, and it could result in substandard treatment, poor medical decisions and even patient death. There should be no margin for error in these critical sectors.”
Fabricated educational certificates
The most common types of fraud DataFlow Group has observed include fabricated or edited educational certificates, inflated claims regarding experience, misinformation about past employers and qualifications bought from diploma mills.
To combat the problem and help governmental bodies, ministries and private organisations adopt a more cautious, data-driven approach to recruitment, DataFlow Group works with over 100,000 verification bodies around the world. DataFlow Group’s Primary Source Verification and TrueProfile services provide a platform for applicants to upload and verify their documents, certificates and share details of past employment. This information is then verified via robust checks, both automated and manual. Upon successful verification, applicants can apply for roles within the healthcare sector in the GCC, and employers can be confident these applicants have the necessary qualifications and experience to meet the region’s high healthcare standards.
Kumar concluded: “First and foremost, DataFlow Group is protecting communities — ensuring people are being treated by qualified professionals. We also want to empower people to excel in their careers, providing a tool that enables them to take new opportunities in their home countries or abroad. Rather than seeing the process as red tape, it’s really a way for us to help employers save time and costs in the long run by recruiting the right people. For the applicants, it provides a tool for them to demonstrate their skills and advance their careers.”
