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HCPC

The NHS is short of theatre practitioners.

NHS Long Term Workforce Plan · training places up at least 80% · england.nhs.uk

You run the theatre around the surgeon — anaesthetics, scrub, recovery.

A theatre team in green scrubs works under the operating lights beside a tray of instruments.

Operating Department Practitioner

United Kingdom · HCPC

UK NHS shortfall planNZ Tier 1 · as Anaesthetic Technician

3 of 5

countries carry this profession on an official shortage or priority list

NHS Long Term Workforce Plan · jobsandskills.gov.au · immi.homeaffairs.gov.au

NZ Tier 1

Tier 1 as Anaesthetic Technician — nearest NZ equivalent

immigration.govt.nz · 2026-09-22

7,606

open listings — NHS Jobs, Health NZ portal

exact title · 2026-09-22

97,475

open NHS vacancies — 6.5% of the workforce

nhs vacancy statistics · mar 2026

What you do abroad

The work, and why it matters.

You run the theatre around the surgeon — anaesthetics, scrub, recovery.

For patients

A safe anaesthetic, a sterile field, a monitored wake-up.

For the system

The NHS plans to raise ODP training places by at least 80% — its single largest allied-health increase.

For you

A UK-specific title. Elsewhere the nearest role is Anaesthetic Technician — Tier 1 in New Zealand.

Where the work happens

  • Operating theatres
  • Anaesthetic rooms
  • Recovery units
  • Day surgery
Where you're wanted

Three of five countries list this role.

Each card carries this profession's strongest fact there, and what is open on the boards today.

United KingdomTraining places to rise at least 80% — greatest AHP shortfallNHS Long Term Workforce Plan · june 2023
7,549 live · NHS Jobs

exact title · 2026-09-22

NHS Agenda for ChangeGBP 32,073Primary confidence — From the regulator’s own site or fee schedule, September 2026.

Band 5, entry step · a year

Source: nhsemployers.org · agenda for change pay scales · 1 Apr 2026

New ZealandTier 1 as Anaesthetic Technician — nearest NZ equivalentimmigration.govt.nz · 2026-09-22
57 live · Health NZ portal

exact title · 2026-09-22

Health NZ allied health scaleNZD 77,087Primary confidence — From the regulator’s own site or fee schedule, September 2026.

Step 1 · entry grade · a year

Source: tewhatuora.govt.nz · allied health collective agreement · 2 Sept 2024

Who regulates you

Who decides.

The regulator assesses your qualification. We prepare and submit the file. The decision is theirs.

United Kingdom

HCPC

Registered as Operating Department Practitioner

  • Degree, transcripts & syllabus mapped to its Standards of Proficiency
  • Registration and experience in your home country
  • English language test
hcpc-uk.org

We hold a recorded route for one of the five. We did not confirm a registration route for the others in the September 2026 pass.

Your route

Four steps to registration.

Fit check against HCPC ODP standards

Your degree, syllabus and clinical hours read against the regulator’s own published standards.

Theatre hours across all three phases evidenced

Every document in the form the regulator asks for, translated and legalised in the right order.

Filed in your HCPC account

Filed in your own account. Every query drafted by us, sent by you, tracked to the answer.

Registered

Registration comes first. The visa route follows the destination country’s published framework.

Recent numbers

The latest official figures.

Read from the government's own pages in September 2026. The date is the disclosure.

18,200

theatre practitioners on the HCPC register

hcpc-uk.org · register summary · 1 Sept 2026

101

theatre practitioners on the Medical Sciences Council register

mscouncil.org.nz · annual report 1 april 2024 · 2024-2025

75%

of new anaesthetic technology registrants trained abroad — Medical Sciences Council

mscouncil.org.nz · annual report 1 april 2024 · 2024-2025

Tier 1

Tier 1 as Anaesthetic Technician — nearest NZ equivalent

immigration.govt.nz · 2026-09-22

10,000

skilled-independent (189) invitations in the last SkillSelect round

immi.homeaffairs.gov.au · 2026-09-22

97,475

open NHS vacancies — 6.5% of the workforce

nhs vacancy statistics · mar 2026

Route finder

Where could you be working next year?

Two answers. Ten seconds. Then we show you what's open for your profession.

These describe each country’s general immigration framework as published, not a route we can promise or advise on. Immigration rules change and are applied case by case. For your own circumstances, consult a registered immigration adviser.

See your own route as an operating department practitioner.

One more answer — where you want to work — and the facts are on screen.