RCoA responds to Home Office future skills-based immigration system White Paper

Commenting on the recently published Government White Paper on the future immigration system  Professor Ravi Mahajan, President of the Royal College of Anaesthetists said:

“For many years, our hospitals have relied on free movement, not only of clinicians, but also of non-clinical staff working at all levels.

“We support the concerns of NHS Employers over impractical salary thresholds and  proposed restrictions for low-skilled migration from across the world contained in the White Paper. These policies do not recognise the true value of contributions from international colleagues to our health and social care sector.

“We acknowledge the need to develop a home grown workforce, but this will take many years. Meanwhile, the NHS should still be able to access suitable staff from Europe and beyond in response to skills shortages.

“Uncertainty around future workforce supply makes it extremely challenging to plan hospital care and there is a real risk that service delivery and patient safety will be compromised in years to come.”