Government breaks pledge to stop low-paid health and care staff paying twice to use the NHS

The government has rowed back on a pledge to scrap the immigration health surcharge, which forces overseas health and care workers to pay to use the NHS, even though they already pay for it through tax and national insurance, says UNISON today (Thursday). Instead of scrapping the fee, low-paid health and care staff have been told they’ll have to pay it and claim the money back. A family of four on a three-year visa would have to find £7,488. The stress and anxiety of trying to scrape the money together while on low wages and working on the Covid frontline is pushing workers to the brink, says UNISON. A public outcry in May forced the Prime Minister to pledge to exempt health and social care workers from the charge, introduced in 2015 as part of the government’s ‘hostile environment’ strategy, the union says But instead of exempting all staff from the charge, the government’s created a system where only tier 2 visa holders, which includes doctors, nurses and paramedics, are totally exempt. All non-tier 2 visa holders – those in lower paid health and care jobs – will have to pay the cash upfront and claim back a refund every six months for the life of their visa, says UNISON. To add insult to injury, says UNISON, the government recently increased the charge by £224 to £624. UNISON assistant general secretary Christina McAnea said: “The government has sunk to new depths with this announcement and frontline staff d...
Source: UNISON Health care news - Category: UK Health Authors: Tags: Article News Press release Christina McAnea immigration social care Source Type: news