The RCP has responded to the Migration Advisory Committee’s (MAC’s) annual report in which it recommends making care workers immediately eligible for the Health and Care Worker Visa and placing the occupation on the Shortage Occupation List.
Commenting on the report, Andrew Goddard, president of the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), said:
“The RCP strongly welcomes the Migration Advisory Committee’s (MAC’s) recognition that we need more social care professionals and must use all the tools at our disposal to secure them. We hope the government will quickly accept the recommendation.
“As we said when the health and care visa was launched, the majority of social care roles were excluded. Adding these roles to that list would be a step in the right direction. Although the £20,480 minimum salary for eligibility may be too high, given care workers on average are paid around £17,000 a year.
“This step by the MAC is a clear indication of the situation in which we find ourselves after years of underinvestment in the health and social care workforce. We agree that the recommendations will help alleviate the difficulties, but we shouldn’t have to be thinking about using immigration policy to fix a domestic problem.”
The full report can be found here.
