London (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Many people reaching the UK to work in the NHS are robbed of welfare benefits after five years due to rules that deprived them of welfare benefits for five years.
How Is the ‘No Recourse to Public Funds’ Rule Impacting NHS Migrant Workers?
They are being compelled to borrow money, run up credit card debts and go without food because they are incapable of making ends meet, according to a declaration from the Royal College of Nursing (RCN). The nurses are on provisional visas, which means they are subject to the “no recourse to public funds” rule that bans them from claiming child benefits, housing benefits and universal credit for at least five years before they can apply for unlimited leave to remain.
What Are the Consequences of Denying Welfare Support to Migrant Nurses in the NHS?
The RCN is advising ministers to scrap the rule, which it states is unfair because foreign-trained nurses cannot get the benefits despite paying income tax and national insurance.
The report, established on a survey of more than 3,000 foreign nurses, cautions that the policy “punishes” people for coming to perform in the UK and is “risking a mass departure of international nursing staff”. The understaffed health service already has nearly 40,000 vacancies for nurses.
How Are Migrant NHS Nurses Coping with Financial Hardship Due to Welfare Restrictions?
One nurse stated: “I have to borrow money from people. I have to go without food at times. I have to rely on [my] abusive ex [partner].” Another stated: “I had to go into credit card debt and do more weekend and night shifts in the past. This meant that I was away from my child and relied on [the] help of friends for childcare on nights and at weekends.” A third stated that the inability to access benefits discriminated against immigrants because: “It is another way of saying: ‘We care less about your welfare but are interested more about what you have to offer our society.’”
Last Friday, the United Nations stated that it too desired the rule axed for migrants. In a report regarding people of colour in the UK, its committee on the elimination of racial discrimination suggested that “the state party [UK government] revise the no recourse to public funds regulation and ensure that it does not reveal migrant households to a higher risk of poverty and precarity”.
A government spokesperson praised NHS staff and stressed that nurses are very likely to get a pay rise this year. They stated: “We hugely value the important work that our nurses do day in, day out to care for patients. We recognise that people are still working with the cost of living, which is why this government desires to restore economic stability.
“The NHS is damaged, but it is not beaten, and that is a testament to the brilliant actions of the NHS workforce, in turn, it is essential that we can support them in every way we can. We have received the recommendations of the NHS Pay Review Body for pay for NHS staff, including nurses, for 2024/25.”