Lifting of the Tier two visa cap is a victory for patient care, staff well-being and common sense

Responding to the Home Office announcement that non-EU doctors and nurses are to be excluded from the government's Tier 2 visa cap, Dr Liam Brennan, President of the Royal College of Anaesthetists (RCoA), said:

“As part of an evolving workforce strategy, the lifting of the Tier 2 visa cap by the Home Office is evidence of advocacy that the RCoA and other medical royal colleges have been undertaking with government to ensure that delivery of safe patient care remains at the heart of the NHS. I am pleased common sense has now prevailed.

“This decision will provide much needed relief to an NHS workforce currently under intense pressure and to patients who have seen their health services compromised due to staff shortages.

“For the past 70 years, the NHS has relied on the skills and dedication of international doctors to deliver the excellent patient care the NHS is renowned for. With ever-increasing demand and complexity of patient care, the NHS needs to be able to attract adequate numbers of doctors and nurses required to deliver the services expected of it, as it will be some years before the additional 1,500 doctors in training reach fully qualified status.”