“Ministers appear comfortable with tearing apart families to score political points"
Trade unions representing health and care workers have blasted the government’s latest plans to cut migration as ‘cruel’ amid warnings that it will only add to a ‘dire workforce crisis’ in the sector.
In an attempt to desperately regain some popularity among Tory backbenchers, Rishi Sunak’s government has announced a harsh crackdown on people moving to the UK.
Home Secretary James Cleverly announced yesterday that the minimum salary threshold will be increased by nearly 50%, from £26,000 to £38,700, for skilled overseas workers. While the government will ban health and care workers bringing family members with them to the UK.
RCN Chief Nurse, Professor Nicola Ranger, accused ministers of “tearing apart families to score political points” as the union blasted it a “cruel sanction” that will put off health workers joining the already short-staffed sector.
“This cruel sanction will deter care workers from coming to the UK, adding to dire workforce shortages in social care and ultimately piling even more pressure on an overburdened NHS,” said Professor Ranger.
“The Home Secretary admitted in his own announcement in the Commons that health workers with families will be put off joining our short-staffed health and care services.”
Also included in the government’s harsh new measures to curb migration are, increasing the annual charge on overseas workers to use the NHS from £624 to £1,035 and banning companies from paying workers 20% less than going rate for jobs on the shortage occupation list.
Professor Ranger said any changes to the shortage occupations list affecting nursing will undoubtedly add to the dire workforce crisis in the sector.
She added: “Faced with such significant staff shortages, we must be open to ethical international recruitment while significantly increasing investment in domestic nursing education.”
The UK’s largest trade union UNISON also blasted the migration plans as a “total disaster” for health and social care in the UK.
“They benefit no one,” slammed UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea. “These cruel plans spell total disaster for the NHS and social care.”
She highlighted how migrant workers were in fact encouraged to come to the UK and work in the health and care sector in recent years due to critical staff shortages, with hospitals and care homes unable to function without them.
She added: “There’s also a global shortage of healthcare staff. Migrants will now head to more-welcoming countries, rather than be forced to live without their families.
“The government is playing roulette with essential services just to placate its backbenchers and the far-right. But if ministers stopped ducking the difficult issues, and reformed social care as they’ve long promised, there wouldn’t be such a shortage of workers.”
“None of this is rocket science,” McAnea stressed.
“Fund care properly and raise wages, and the sector becomes a more attractive place to work. But take away the migrant workers currently stopping care from going under and it collapses.”
(Image credit: Sky News / YouTube)
Hannah Davenport is news reporter at Left Foot Forward, focusing on trade unions and environmental issues
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