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Health Professions: Migrant Workers

Asked by Jack RankinConservativeDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled Answered 14 February 2025UIN 27429

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of granting Indefinite Leave to Remain to people with Health and Care Worker visas on welfare services.

Answered by Karin Smyth

Internationally educated staff remain an important part of the workforce, and our Code of Practice for International Recruitment ensures stringent ethical standards when recruiting health and social care staff from overseas. Health and Care Worker visa holders may be eligible to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain after five years on the visa. No estimate has been made of the potential impact on public services of grants of Indefinite Leave to Remain to people with Health and Care Worker visas.

The Government remains committed to growing homegrown talent and giving opportunities to more people across the country to join the National Health Service. In summer 2025, we will publish a refreshed Long Term Workforce Plan to deliver the transformed health service we will build over the next decade and treat patients on time again.

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