Thousands of migrant nursing staff are ready to leave the UK, with a new government crackdown on immigration set to fuel the “exodus”, a union has warned.
A survey by the Royal College of Nurses (RCN) of 3,000 migrant nurses found that more than four in 10 (42%) of those who had been internationally educated were planning to leave the country.
Of those, 70% said it was as a result of pay, while 40% said immigration policies impacted their decision making.
The report by the RCN also said that two-thirds of those planning to head elsewhere intended to go somewhere that was not their home country.
It comes after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer outlined a series of measures on Monday to curb the number of people coming to the UK.
This included a plan to end care worker visas for overseas recruitment as well as stricter tests for foreign students.
Professor Nicola Ranger, RCN general secretary and chief executive, said: “Our report shows thousands of migrant nursing staff are ready to leave the UK. This situation is bad enough, but now the government’s cruel measures could do great damage to key services.”
She added: “Closing the care worker visa route and making migrant nursing staff wait longer to access vital benefits is the hostile environment on steroids.
“They pay tax and work in our vital services, they deserve the same rights.”
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The RCN report cited one nurse from the Philippines who said: “I love living in the UK. I love the people. I love my job and my department.
“I always try to defend it to my other international nurse friends that have moved to the US, Canada or Australia.
“But somehow, it’s too tiring to defend this country when it’s not reciprocating you the care and support that we as immigrants deserve.”
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‘Over-reliance on international recruitment’
A government spokesperson said: “It is a strength of our National Health Service that people come from around the world to care for our sick, and we must recognise the valuable contribution they make.
“But when we are recruiting from countries on the WHO red list, it is clear that we need to end our over-reliance on international recruitment and retain more homegrown talent.
“This government is also bolstering the social care workforce including through introducing a Fair Pay Agreement for care professionals, providing them with the pay, conditions and opportunities for career progression that they deserve.”
