Up to 50,000 nurses could leave the UK due to government immigration proposals, leading to a decline National Health Service Research shows that the country is facing the largest labor crisis in history.
Keir Starmer has promised to curb net migration, planning to make migrants wait up to 10 years to apply to settle in the UK, rather than automatically receiving settled status after five years.
The measures, which also include plans to raise qualification requirements for foreign workers to advanced degrees and raise English language standards required for all types of visas including dependents, are seen as an attempt to counter the rise of Nigel Farage's Reform UK party. A public consultation on the plans is expected soon, sources said.
Nursing leaders told the Guardian the plans were “immoral” and treated highly skilled migrants as a “political football”. They said a mass exodus of nurses would jeopardize patient safety and undermine government efforts to reduce waiting times.
Under these proposals, migrant workers in all sectors of the economy will be affected. But the biggest impact will be in the health sector, which is already struggling due to rising demand for medical care amid staffing shortages.
A Royal College of Nursing (RCN) survey seen by the Guardian found the plans had caused deep concern among overseas NHS and Social Care staff.
The country employs more than 200,000 internationally trained nurses, representing around 25% of the UK's total workforce of 794,000. The Government's proposed changes to Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) have caused alarm and many are now considering leaving the UK permanently, a survey shows.
The proposed changes could affect almost one in 10 nursing staff working in the UK. According to the government, 76,876 people have been granted visas since 2021 and will currently be eligible for permanent resident status in five years. However, plans to double this period to a decade have put their future in jeopardy.
In an RCN survey of more than 5,000 migrant nurses, 60% of those without an ILR said the shake-up was “very likely” to affect their plans to stay in the UK. The results show that more than 46,000 people could leave the UK permanently.
Professor Nicola Ranger, general secretary and chief executive of the RCN, said: “These proposals are not only immoral, they could be dangerous for our patients. No minister with any interest in the success of our health and social care system will insist on extending the qualifying period for ILRs.”
She called for the plans to be abandoned and said that otherwise they risked worsening the NHS staffing crisis, jeopardizing patient safety and undermining efforts to reduce waiting times for treatment. “At a time when the government fails to increase the number of domestic nurses, it risks pushing tens of thousands of highly qualified nurses out of the UK,” she said.
The proposals also represent a “betrayal” of migrant nurses, Ranger said, as many of those without ILR came to the UK to support the response to the Covid-19 crisis and beyond and now face uncertainty.
“Many of those who will soon be applying for ILR came to the UK during the pandemic, having made great personal sacrifices. This is no way to repay them and amounts to a betrayal. Our international colleagues deserve clarity about their future so that politicians do not use them as political footballs and leave them without access to government support, despite working in public services and paying taxes.”
Without ILR, migrant health workers cannot easily move from one job to another because visas tie them to an employer, which Ranger says has led to exploitation in the welfare system.
after promoting the newsletter
The proposals would also prevent them from accessing government support such as child benefits and disability payments for ten years, despite paying taxes. “If the government continues to show nursing staff that they are not welcome here, they should not be surprised when they decide to leave.”
According to the survey, these proposals have caused serious concern among migrant nurses. It found that 53% were “extremely concerned” about their financial security, 52% were extremely concerned about the impact on their family, and 49% were extremely concerned about the impact on their career.
The plans could reduce the number of foreign workers wanting to come to the UK in the future, according to the study. Only 11% of respondents said they would still migrate if the journey to settlement took 10 years.
The RCN is also calling on the government to cut the ILR application fee, which remains £3,029 per person despite an estimated processing cost of £523. In 2003 the fee was just £155.
A government spokesman said: “We are grateful to our overseas health workers who show compassion, provide high-quality care and strengthen our health system, but net migration must fall.
“As the Home Secretary has said, under our proposed new settlement model, people will have the opportunity to shorten the qualifying period for settlement and citizenship based on their contribution to the UK economy and society. We will launch a consultation shortly and encourage health and care workers to take part when it begins.”
