Anger as homes get the go-ahead
DEVELOPMENT: Campaigners have spoken of their bitter disappointment at hearing that hundreds of homes are to built on land bordering one of Yorkshire’s two treasured World Heritage Sites.
A YORKSHIRE hospital trust has revealed how it failed to secure permits for two foreign doctors due to visa restrictions which are now set to be relaxed by the Government.
The Mid Yorkshire NHS Hospitals Trust, which runs Pinderfields, Pontefract and Dewsbury hospitals, tried to recruit a pair of doctors earlier this year but was unable to secure permits for them.
The trust says it was knocked back “month after month” in its attempts to secure a visa for an orthopaedic doctor, who it had been trying to recruit for half a year, while similar issues hampered attempts to hire a second medic.
Asked about the rule change at a trust board meeting yesterday, medical director Karen Stone said: “We had two doctors in the pipeline, but we’ve lost them. They’ve chosen to work in another country. There’s possibly one other we may be able to recruit now, if the same thing hasn’t happened to that doctor.”
In a move that will mean the NHS can recruit thousands more medical staff from abroad, it was announced yesterday that doctors and nurses are to be excluded from the cap on so-called ‘Tier 2’ visas for skilled workers from non-EU countries, imposed by Theresa May when she was home secretary.
The visa limit has been set at 20,700 a year since 2011, with about 40 per cent of places accounted for by the NHS. But recent months have regularly seen demand outstrip supply, driven in large part by the under-pressure health service.
Home Secretary Sajid Javid said: “I recognise the pressures faced by the NHS and other sectors in recent months. Doctors and nurses play a vital role in society and at this time we need more in the UK. That is why I have reviewed our skilled worker visa route. This is about finding a solution to increased demand and to support our essential national services.”
Downing Street confirmed the change would come into effect immediately after new regulations are tabled tomorrow. Future numbers of visas for non-EU medics would be dictated by “the requirements of the NHS”, and it will be for health managers to determine how many are needed.
The removal of doctors and nurses from the Tier 2 total will have the knock-on effect of freeing up hundreds of places each month for other professions, including engineers, IT professionals and teachers.
The Royal College of General Practitioners said the announcement would be a “much-needed victory for common sense and patient care”.