Nurse: We are being asked for the impossible. What do we do?

A Nigerian nurse recruited to ease crippling shortages in NHS Scotland has been told how she will need to find £7,000 to continue working here.

Angela, not her real name, and her husband, a care worker, says finding the money may be impossible and the couple fear for their future in Britain as the NHS struggles to recruit and retain experienced staff.

She is one of around 200,000 overseas workers helping to staff the NHS and began working here four years after being recruited by an employment agency. Now, after obtaining the qualifications to register with the Nursing and Midwifery Council she works in a large teaching hospital.

She said: “I am a band five nurse and earn £26,104 while my husband is a care worker on the minimum wage. Everything we earn goes to pay bills and care for our two young children. We are proud to work in the health and care sector and now need to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain to stay here.

“We both worked through Covid contributing to the NHS at its busiest and most vulnerable time. Now we have to find £4,800 in Home Office fees and more money to apply for passports for our children, born here.

“I honestly don’t know where we are going to find the money except by borrowing it or living even more frugally than we already do.

“That may be impossible because of the huge rises in energy bills, food, council tax and all the everyday expenses young couples have to meet.”

They rent their home and see no prospect of buying one of their own because their salaries are limited. Travel home to see family is impossible as the couple have no income for savings.

She added: “The employment agencies paint a rosy picture of the lifestyle you will lead if you come to the UK. However, the reality is that you work hard to stand still and then pay out four-figure sums to remain working. We have earned our place to work in the NHS and care sector and our children have been born here. They desperately wanted to recruit us.

“We feel that if you work and contribute to the NHS, and pay taxes, you should be given an incentive to remain doing so.

“We are being asked for the impossible and it is just not fair.”

Angela and her husband must pay £2,404 each for their passports while the cost for each of their two children is £1,300. There are additional administration and solicitor fees which add another £2,500 to the cost.