Government promises fast-track health visas
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has outlined plans for fast-track visas for health professionals as part of the points-based immigration system the government plans to introduce after Brexit.
The BBC pointed out: "As the system for non-EU citizens currently stands, some health professionals already get preferential treatment. For example, nurses don't have to meet the £30,000 salary threshold. And there's no cap on how many visas can be given out to doctors or nurses as there is for most other skilled professionals. "The key changes in this announcement are the halving of the visa fee and allowing people to pay back the £400 a year compulsory health insurance more slowly. "It doesn't remove the £1,000 immigration skills charge employers have to pay for every foreign worker they hire. And these plans won't help social care staff who very often earn less than £30,000 - in an industry which also has a vacancy rate of eight per cent."Dame Donna Kinnair, chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing, said she was reserving judgment on the government's until she had more details. She also criticised the imposition of the immigration health charge for medical staff.“Failure to train enough nurses is leaving NHS and social care short-staffed and forced us to recruit overseas in the short-term,” she said. “A fairer immigration system is a key demand we’re making of politicians this election – valuing skills and not fixating on arbitrary targets – but the devil will be in the detail and we cannot be satisfied by rhetoric alone. The NHS doesn’t operate in isolation and nurses work in social care and many other places.“But it is of deep regret that the prime minister is preserving the immoral and heartless charge for overseas nurses to use the same services they keep running. It should be abolished, not spread out every month. There are tens of thousands of unfilled nursing jobs and we need more ambitious plans than this to address it.”Diane Abbott, the Labour Party's 'shadow' home secretary, said: "The Tories are tying themselves in knots over immigration. They use dog-whistle anti-migrant rhetoric but are forced to accept we need migrant workers for key sectors, not just the NHS, but many more besides."
Read more news and views from David Sapsted.
Subscribe to Relocate Extra, our monthly newsletter, to get all the latest international assignments and global mobility news.Relocate’s new Global Mobility Toolkit provides free information, practical advice and support for HR, global mobility managers and global teams operating overseas.Access hundreds of global services and suppliers in our Online Directory©2024 Re:locate magazine, published by Profile Locations, Spray Hill, Hastings Road, Lamberhurst, Kent TN3 8JB. All rights reserved. This publication (or any part thereof) may not be reproduced in any form without the prior written permission of Profile Locations. Profile Locations accepts no liability for the accuracy of the contents or any opinions expressed herein.