Give foreign NHS staff path to citizenship, say MPS

ALL foreign NHS and care staff who have served on the front line of the Covid-19 pandemic should be offered the chance to become British citizens, the home affairs committee has said.

The MPS said the Government should recognise the “immense contribution” of those on temporary visas by setting out new arrangements to offer citizenship and permanent residency.

“We believe that people who have given so much, and in many cases risked their own health, for the nations and people of the UK should be assisted to become permanent members of the society to which they have dedicated themselves,” they said.

They also urged the Government to waive the fees for visa extensions for care workers and lower paid NHS workers such as porters and cleaners to bring them in line with other NHS staff.

Excluding care workers and lowerpaid NHS staff from the fee-free NHS visa extension scheme was unfair and failed to recognise the scale of their contribution to the UK fight against Covid-19, they added.

“A care worker, hospital porter or cleaner, working on the front line of the coronavirus crisis, who needs to renew family visas this summer could be facing costs of thousands of pounds,” said the MPS.

“It cannot be right that, at a time when they are providing a vital and life-saving service for the country, non-uk health and care staff have to worry about their status and residency in the country.”

The committee also recommended the temporary lifting of “no recourse to public funds” conditions so that individuals without access to benefits could support and protect themselves and their families during the pandemic.

As of January, nearly one in seven (13.8 per cent) NHS staff in Britain said they were of non-british nationality. That represents 170,000 out of a workforce of 1.28million.