Migrant workers have been essential to the operations of the NHS ever since its inception in 1948. Over the decades, many programmes have been used to encourage and find overseas workers and help them migrate to the UK to be employed in the healthcare system, demonstrating how important they are.

Migrant workers have been essential to the operations of the NHS ever since its inception in 1948. Over the decades, many programmes have been used to encourage and find overseas workers and help them migrate to the UK to be employed in the healthcare system, demonstrating how important they are.

However, throughout the current COVID-19 pandemic, many have argued that migrant workers have not been given the rightful respect or recognition they truly deserve. Many of them have been putting their lives on the line every single day fighting against a deadly virus, yet still face immigration insecurity.

There are currently 170,000 overseas NHS workers from 200 countries residing within the UK, many of which have to apply every year for five years to renew their work visas. Some are required to have employers provide certificates of sponsorship for them, and if they do not, then they can be deported at any time despite their critical service to the country. As the pandemic has raged on since March 2020, support for a private member’s bill which would grant migrant NHS workers indefinite leave to remain has grown.

The Story So Far

In 2019, Boris Johnson announced a new “NHS visa” which would make it significantly easier for doctors and nurses from around the world to work in the UK. This was pre-pandemic, and is said to have been established due to fears that the NHS would not be able to attract staff after Brexit, showcasing how important migrant workers are to our health service.

In April 2020, Priti Patel announced an Immigration Health Surcharge was under review, which would essentially mean migrant NHS workers are taxed twice to use the health service themselves. However, following the outbreak of COVID the UK government decided to abolish such fees as a gesture of appreciation for the service NHS workers were providing. Although this initially seems positive, studies have found that due to differing immigration statuses, there were only 12% of migrant workers paying the surcharge. This means that although the gesture exists, it did not alleviate any widespread issues for migrant workers like it first appeared to.

Furthermore, in the peak of the first wave of the pandemic in 2020, the government announced that all non-EU migrant workers in the health sector whose work visas were due to expire would have it extended for another year with no fee. However the scheme is expected to end in March 2021, leaving many migrant doctors, nurses and paramedics in a position where they must spend hundreds of pounds and weeks applying for new visas from then on. This seems like an extreme disservice to the workers who have carried the country through the pandemic, who are then having to spend their own hard-earned money just to try and remain in the country to continue with their service.

The Private Member’s Bill

In November 2019, the Immigration (Health and Social Care Staff) Bill 2019-21 was put forward, which would offer migrant healthcare workers indefinite leave to remain. This is similar to the actions taken in countries such as France, who are granting full citizenship to frontline migrant workers. The bill is supported by the Royal College of Physicians, the Royal College of Nursing, the Doctors Association UK, Independent Age, and Unison, and MPs are thought to have received upwards of 7400 letters of advocacy for the bill.

Unfortunately, the second reading of the bill was delayed in January 2021 due to the Common’s COVID safety rules. The Liberal Democrat MP Christine Jardine, who sponsored the Bill, has since called on the government to consider debating the bill remotely, due to the urgency of its nature.

How Will This Impact EU Nationals?

As of June 2020, 67,000 of the UK healthcare workforce are nationals of EU countries – 5.5% of NHS staff in England. It is estimated that 9.1% of doctors and 6.0% of nurses in the UK are from the EU, but since 2016 this has actually fallen.

Under the terms of the Withdrawal Agreement between the EU and the UK, EU nationals now have until the 30th June 2021 to apply for settled status via the EU Settlement scheme. Those healthcare workers who are successful in their application will be able to remain in the UK and will have access to public services and healthcare. EU nationals who have the status of indefinite leave to remain do not have to apply for this. However, if they choose to do so and are successful they will gain the right to leave the UK for up to 5 years and not lose settled status rather than two years under indefinite leave to remain.

EU nationals are largely not going to be impacted by this bill. This is because they have the EU Settlement scheme in which to apply to, which non-EEC migrant healthcare workers do not have as an option. The issue is that for those healthcare workers that do apply to the scheme and are rejected, they will be facing immigration insecurity once again.

In the long run, the proposed bill that would grant non-EEC healthcare workers the indefinite leave to remain could create some changes in employment opportunities for EU nationals. This will be because there will be a much smaller turnover in non-EEC staff who are losing immigration status and leaving the UK, therefore leaving fewer job openings for EU nationals who are wishing to settle in the UK and work in healthcare. However, this is an ongoing issue so such impacts cannot yet be determined. It is certainly a topic area that EU nationals may want to watch closely.

Read the full article here

Doctors’ Association UK fighting for frontline workers

Here is a response from MP Kevin Forster (Minister for Future Borders and Immigration) to a letter we sent the Prime Minister in October.

In October we wrote a letter to the Prime Minister highlighting the vital contribution of overseas NHS staff and care workers. We requested all non-British NHS and care workers, as well as their families to be granted Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) and citizenship.

This resulted in:

1) Visas were automatically extended by 12 months for 6000 health professionals and their eligible dependents free of charge, exempt from immigration surcharge.

2) Set up of the COVID-19 bereavement Scheme. Families of any NHS, health, and care worker who sadly pass away from contracting coronavirus are granted ILR, free of charge.

3) Launch of the Health and Care visa, allowing a quicker, easier and cheaper route for eligible people working in health and social care to come to the UK with their families.

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DAUK’s Dr Vinesh Patel on residency delays stopping migrant medics from working:

“Surely at a time of the pandemic, the question we should be asking is can we invest in speeding up this process, reduce the bureaucracy that these clinicians are facing, and find out why we can’t have them on the front line.”

The Doctors’ Association said that some doctors are still waiting for biometric residency permits, which would allow them to start work.

In Leicester respiratory specialist Dr Ahmad Ussaid is sitting idle because of these delays, it said. Even an intervention by a local MP has failed to speed up the issuing of the permit.

Other doctors remain out of pocket because a promised refund of the health entry tax – the immigration health surcharge – has not arrived, the association said.

Neurosurgeon Dr Dolin Bhagawati said:

These prolonged and ongoing bureaucratic delays are simply unconscionable. We have trained doctors in this country who are ready and willing to help combat the pandemic but unable to work due to the Home Office not doing its job and supplying appropriate documentation.

Promises made by the Prime Minister and the cabinet regarding refunding the IHS to NHS staff continue to remain unfulfilled. How can the NHS attract the best and brightest to the UK if the world sees a government unable to fulfil straightforward promises?

Unfortunately, the immigration rhetoric and policies of the recent past has led to many of our valued colleagues feeling crestfallen, unappreciated, and exploited. This country must reward those that come to its aid in its time of greatest need.

We call on the government to do its job to allow the NHS to do its part in leading the country through this national emergency.

“We have trained doctors in this country who are ready and willing to help combat the pandemic but unable to work due to the Home Office not doing its job and supplying appropriate documentation,” he continued.

“Meanwhile promises made by the prime minister and the cabinet regarding refunding the immigration health surcharge to NHS staff continue to remain unfulfilled. How can the NHS attract the best and brightest to the UK if the world sees a government unable to fulfil straightforward promises?

“Unfortunately, the immigration rhetoric and policies of the recent past has led to many of our valued colleagues feeling crestfallen, unappreciated, and exploited. This country must reward those that come to its aid in its time of greatest need.”

Qualified doctors in the UK are being blocked from working due to Home Office delays, at a time when the NHS is under increasing pressure due to surging numbers of coronavirus cases.

Home secretary Priti Patel has been urged to act after it emerged delays in issuing Biometric Residence Permits (BRP), which prove a visa holder’s right to work in the UK, are preventing frontline doctors from working in hospitals to combat the pandemic.

In one case, a respiratory specialist doctor with an approved visa who is currently in Leicester, a city hit particularly hard by Covid-19, is unable to start work due to an ongoing delay providing him with a BRP.

Despite multiple contacts by email and telephone as well as intervention by his MP, Dr Ahmad Ussaid is unable to start work, depriving him of an income and the NHS of a skilled doctor when the health service is being increasingly stretched.  

Boris Johnson removed the NHS migrant surcharge – a £624-a-year fee which is levied on most UK via applications – for health and care workers in May after he came under intense pressure over the “immorality” of the policy. Staff were told they could apply for reimbursements of the charge backdated to March 2020.

However, seven months later, many doctors are still waiting for their refunds and have been given no clear reason for the delay, while others have been refused as they have paid from bank accounts from their country of origin which have been closed on arrival to the UK, according to DAUK. 

A letter to Ms Patel from Doctors’ Association UK (DAUK) on Wednesday stated that delays in providing BRPs were preventing frontline doctors from working in NHS hospitals to combat the pandemic due to a “bureaucratic hindrance”, depriving the health service of skilled doctors “when the country needs them most”.

It called for a fast-track system to be introduced to ensure BRPs are issued without delay for all approved visas for international medical graduates, to make sure the NHS has the “highest number of trained personnel on the frontline during the escalating pandemic”. 

The letter also raises concern about delays in refunding the immigration health surcharge, which DAUK said “smacked of reluctance” to implement the government pledge.

“It is known that Bame NHS staff are at increased risk of dying from Covid-19 yet they are still stepping up to treat the sick during this time of emergency,” states the letter.

“If these staff members are willing to step forward and help the nation, the nation must respond in kind. Failure to do so is simply not in keeping with accepted British values.”

Dr Dolin Bhagawati, a neurosurgeon working in London and editorial lead for DAUK, said the “prolonged” and ongoing bureaucratic delays were “simply unconscionable”.

“We have trained doctors in this country who are ready and willing to help combat the pandemic but unable to work due to the Home Office not doing its job and supplying appropriate documentation,” he continued.

“Meanwhile promises made by the prime minister and the cabinet regarding refunding the immigration health surcharge to NHS staff continue to remain unfulfilled. How can the NHS attract the best and brightest to the UK if the world sees a government unable to fulfil straightforward promises?

“Unfortunately, the immigration rhetoric and policies of the recent past has led to many of our valued colleagues feeling crestfallen, unappreciated, and exploited. This country must reward those that come to its aid in its time of greatest need.”

Read the full article here.

Doctors’ Association UK concerned that Home Office delays are preventing Doctors from helping in pandemic. IHS refunds still not processed

The Doctors’ Association UK has written to the Home Secretary Priti Patel regarding two issues that are adversely affecting the NHS frontline’s efforts to combat the escalating coronavirus pandemic. These are specifically related to delays in issuing Biometric Residency Permits for doctors with valid visas to work in the UK and the ongoing delays in refunding the Immigration Health Surcharge, promised earlier this year.

Delays in issuing BRPs are preventing qualified doctors with valid visas currently in the UK from starting work in the NHS and helping to mitigate the increasing effect of staff sickness from the escalating rates of COVID-19.

This is exemplified by Dr Ahmad Ussaid, a respiratory specialist doctor with a visa approved who is currently in Leicester, a city hit particularly hard by COVID-19. However, he is unable to start work due to an ongoing delay providing him with a BRP, despite multiple contacts by email and telephone in addition to intervention by his MP. He remains ready to jump into the fray but unable to due to this bureaucratic hinderance, depriving him of an income and the NHS of a skilled doctor when the country needs them most.

Meanwhile numerous doctors have also contacted us regarding delays in refunding the Immigration Health Surcharge. A flagship promise made by the Prime Minister and reinforced by the cabinet was to refund the IHS. However, for many charged such as Dr Aqsa Ghanzanfar who has emailed the Home Office thrice, they still await refund of this for no clear reason. Others have been refused as they have paid form bank accounts from their country of origin which have been understandably closed on arrival to the UK.

Dr Dolin Bhagawati, a Neurosurgeon working in London and Editorial Lead for DAUK said:

“These prolonged and ongoing bureaucratic delays are simply unconscionable. We have trained doctors in this country who are ready and willing to help combat the pandemic but unable to work due to the Home Office not doing its job and supplying appropriate documentation.

Meanwhile promises made by the Prime Minister and the cabinet regarding refunding the IHS to NHS staff continue to remain unfulfilled. How can the NHS attract the best and brightest to the UK if the world sees a government unable to fulfil straightforward promises?

Unfortunately, the immigration rhetoric and policies of the recent past has led to many of our valued colleagues feeling crestfallen, unappreciated, and exploited. This country must reward those that come to its aid in its time of greatest need.

We call on the government to do its job to allow the NHS to do its part in leading the country through this national emergency.”

CONTACT

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