Calls grow to scrap NHS surcharge continue

The government is facing further pressure from doctors, nurses and carers to scrap the surcharge that many migrant healthcare workers must pay to access the NHS.

The NHS surcharge is set to increase to £625 per year later this year, a fee they must pay for themselves and each family member alongside the cost of their UK visas. The cost of the surcharge has risen three times in four years. It is meant to discourage illegal migration, and to combat health tourism.

However, with international healthcare workers disproportionately represented in frontline healthcare roles, and also disproportionately the victims of coronavirus, the sense of injustice has heightened.

Between 2015 and 2018-19, it is reported that the charges have raised approximately £900 million for the NHS.

The government has announced a number of one-year visa extensions for those working in healthcare, including a one-year exemption from the surcharge, for NHS doctors, nurses and paramedics due to renew a visa before October. However, most frontline carers working in social care are not eligible, and workers whose visa comes up for renewal next year will not benefit.

Holly Lynch, Labour’s shadow immigration minister, welcomed the extension of visas for some frontline workers, but added: “The government also needs to think again about whether the NHS surcharge paid by migrants to the UK, and working in the NHS, and other essential sectors, is fair.”