Royal College of Nursing comments on new UK points based immigration system
Responding to the new points based immigration system announced by the Home Office, Dame Donna Kinnair, Chief Executive and General Secretary of the Royal College Nursing said:
“We are concerned that these proposals from the Government will not meet the health and care needs of the population. They close the door to lower-paid healthcare support workers and care assistants from overseas, who currently fill significant numbers of posts in the health and care workforce.
"While recruitment of overseas staff shouldn’t be used as a replacement for domestic workforce supply, it’s clear that it will need to continue in the short to medium-term so that health and social care services in the UK can continue to function.
“We are clear that maintaining arbitrary salary thresholds will not enable health and social care services in the UK to recruit and retain the number of staff needed to meet the needs of the UK’s population.
“We are also very disappointed to see the Immigration Health Surcharge of £400 a year for overseas staff remain in place. Nursing staff from abroad, whom we want to attract to the UK, already pay for the NHS through their taxes and should not have to pay this extra charge, which applies whether or not they access services”.
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