Focusing on getting the UK Government immigration plan right, NHS Employers chief executive voices his concern regarding the Prime Minister’s speech at the CBI conference.
Responding to the Prime Minister’s speech at the CBI conference today, Danny Mortimer, NHS Employers chief executive, highlights the importance of making sure the new immigration policy is aligned with the health and social care services and ensuring that the UK Government immigration plan puts patients first.
Mortimer’s response: “These remarks are of huge concern. It’s vital to get the new immigration policy right if we are to keep health and social care services open, to support the programme of economic development Mrs May described to the CBI.
“We know we need to increase the number of UK trained health professionals, especially nurses.
“The recommendations on salary thresholds and having no need for a so called ‘lower skilled’, lower wage, route into the UK would cut off the supply of nurses from overseas and there would be no mechanism for employing people into care worker roles. It would be completely unacceptable to allow vital social care services to close under the strain of not having the people required to provide the necessary care.
Although the UK Government immigration plan is causing quite the controversy across the nation, Mortimer concludes: “We look forward to engaging with the Government over the coming months to ensure that the final proposals meet the requirements of the health and social care sector and the people we care for.”
Already a predicted shortage of staff
According to the Cavendish Coalition from the National Institute for Economic and Social Research, the NHS could be short of 51,000 nurses, which calculates to be enough employees to staff 45 hospitals.
The coalition warned that if the government followed the guidance of this autumn’s Migration Advisory Committee report, as it has indicated it will, there could be significant implications for the social care workforce in particular. What many people do not know or understand is that the sector relies on lower paid colleagues who would be cut off by a salary threshold of £30,000 and with no special allowance like that recommended for seasonal agricultural workers.
NHS Employers is part of the NHS Confederation charity and supports employers to put patients first and aims to get the UK Government immigration plan right to support this. It provides a voice for employers on national policy decisions, produces up-to-date guidance for leaders and managers and leads on national pay negotiations.
