Thousands of nurses would be deported from the UK under new migrant salary rules, which the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) warns would add to the shortage of nurses and cost the NHS millions on recruitment.
A new pay threshold would mean non-European migrants earning under £35,000 will have to leave the country. The Home Office claim this will help reduce demand for migrant labour.
The union says by 2017 more than 3,300 nurses could be affected, and this figure could double by the end of the decade. They predict waste of nearly £40m, taking into account the cost of recruitment.
RCN general secretary Peter Carter said this move is totally illogical when there is currently a major shortage of nurses already.
Chair of the British Medical Association Dr Mark Porter said: “We were told immigrant workers are filling up our GP surgeries and hospitals. Well they are. They’re called doctors. And nurses. And porters and cleaners. And without them, the NHS would be on its knees.”