Visa rules forcing migrant NHS workers to leave UK

Trade unions have warned that migrant healthcare workers are having to return to their countries of origin, potentially hampering Britain’s response to the second wave of coronavirus.

Unison has called on the government to stop forcing out key workers in the health and care sectors and to stop barring potential new ones from coming to work here. They say that the policy is having a serious impact during the second wave of the pandemic and at a time when there are 122,000 vacancies in the health and care sectors in England.

In addition to the key workers forced to return to their home countries, it has been revealed that many who are still in the UK are struggling to renew their visas due to delays and prohibitive costs and have become overstayers as a result, something which can further hamper their ability to renew their visas.

Doctors Association UK has also spoken out on the issue, calling for indefinite leave to remain for migrant healthcare workers and raised concerns about visa processing delays. The have drafted a letter, signed by 1,660 doctors and other healthcare workers, protesting about the treatment of the Egyptian consultant cardiologist Dr Basem Enany, who became critically ill from Covid complications. Before he fell sick he had treated many patients at York hospital but he and his family fear for their future in the UK because the Home Office has not yet confirmed what will happen to them after Enany’s visa expires next month.

The Home Office announced earlier in the Summer that NHS and care workers whose visas were due to expire in the next few months would have them extended for a year free of charge so they could ‘focus on fighting coronavirus’. However, this concession only applied to about 3,000 workers, and left out thousands of care workers and NHS staff including low paid healthcare assistants, hospital cleaners and porters.

Christina McAnea, Unison assistant general secretary, said: “Treating overseas health and care workers this way is shameful. These staff are on the frontline, caring for the most vulnerable in society. Shutting them out of the visa extension scheme is a shortsighted and dangerous move. With 122,000 vacancies across the sector, ministers shouldn’t be driving key workers out and barring new ones from coming here.”