NHS will struggle with the Immigration Cap & Lack of Flexibility

The Managing Director of Hays Health care, John Faraguna, has said “In our dealings with employers it is already very apparent that there is a shortage of workers with the necessary skills. Doctors, nurses and specialists, such as radiologists and anaesthetists, are all needed to work in the National Health Service (NHS). The increasing pressure on frontline services due to an ageing population only exacerbates the problem. We are faced with greater pressure on services and we need to attract and retain the best talent to support our economy – not cut a valuable source of skills. Skilled health care workers move globally and the UK’s loss will be other countries’ gain.”

The Deputy Chair of the British Medical Association’s International Committee, Abi Smith, went on to say that “The immigration system needs to be flexible enough to allow experienced doctors from outside of Europe to be appointed, if suitable staff cannot be found from within the resident workforce. If the health service is not able to fill vacancies it may result in cuts to services and increased waiting times.”

Midwife Shortages

Last week the Care Quality Commission (CQC) reported that there is now a serious shortage of trained midwives in the National Health Service (NHS). The shortages, which were already fairly serious before the economic downturn, have been exasperated by demands placed on the NHS to cut budgets over the coming years. The cuts have been described as a ‘knee jerk’ reaction to budgetary demands.

The Recruitment and Employment Confederation said that “The lack of available midwives demonstrates the extent of the staffing challenge facing the National Health Service as well as other public sector employers. The squeeze on public expenditure will inevitably impact on the workforce but we must avoid knee-jerk cuts that not only impact on patient care but also place unsustainable pressure on remaining staff. One solution is to make more use of flexible staffing arrangements such as temporary and locum staff in order to meet peaks in demand and provide essential cover in emergency situations such as complicated births. Rather than seeing agency costs as one of the first budget lines to be slashed, NHS Trusts and other public bodies must recognise the importance of being able to call upon suitably qualified and properly vetted flexible staff”.

Commonwealth Contractors

Commonwealth Contractors is a collection of highly skilled professionals from the Commonwealth and beyond. We partner with OISC Registered Immigration Partners capable of professionally representing a Tier 1 Visa Application / Extension and Tier 2 Licensed Consultancy & Associated Trust Partners who may be prepared, where required, to sponsor a doctor on a Tier 2 Visa (formerly UK Work Permit). Commonwealth Contractors also provides updates on UK Immigration News.

To find out more call Commonwealth Contractors now on 0330 390 9021 or Submit your Details and we will get back to you. Please be prepared to send a copy of a recent CV so that we can pass to interested partner