The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has written to the Home Secretary calling for the increase in the cost of the health and care visa to be scrapped to prevent barriers to overseas nursing staff working in the UK being raised even higher.
The cost of applying for the visa, which allows nursing staff from overseas to work in the NHS or adult social care is set to soar by 15% to £551 for staff working in the UK for more than three years. In addition to this, nursing students will see their visa fees rise by £127 to £490.
The cost to apply for ‘settlement’ in the UK (indefinite leave to remain) is set to increase by 20% to £2,885. In the context of a decade of pay erosion, these increases may be unaffordable to many health workers and act as a significant barrier to retaining vital staff.
Only this week the Prime Minister admitted that not enough nurses had been trained and yet he is intent on making it harder to recruit more staff.
While the NHS needs to reduce reliance on internationally educated staff and invest in expanding the UK-educated nursing workforce, this will take time. The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan predicts that in 15 years around 9–10.5% of the NHS workforce will be recruited from overseas, but right now to ensure the NHS runs safely, a quarter of the workforce is still expected to come from abroad.
There are tens of thousands of nursing vacancies in the NHS. There are even more gaps in social care. Cutting the supply of internationally educated nursing staff will only add to the pressure on health and care services.
In the letter, RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive Pat Cullen says:
“These fee increases will make the UK a less attractive place to live and work for the nurses and other health professionals who make vital contributions to our health and care sector every day.
“Nurses and care workers, regardless of their country of origin, make a vital contribution to this country in both the care they provide and the taxes and national insurance contributions they already pay.
“They deserve to be valued and recognised. Subjecting our much-needed internationally educated staff in the health and care sector to additional levies is not only unjust but divisive and short-sighted.”
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Notes to Editors
Letter to the Home Secretary and Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on visa fee increases
