Tuesday, April 11, 2023
How the hostile environment is harming the NHS
One of the consequewnces of the UK Government's immigration policy is the impact it is having on the country's economy. Not only do we have farmers who can't get workers to pick their crops, a hospitality industry struggling to recruit workers and other labour shortages, but people with key skills are being left to languish in temporary accommodation, all because there are no longer any legitimate routes to claim asylum, while red tape prevents or puts off people coming over here to work, as they once did.
The Observer reports that there are more than 160,000 asylum seekers still waiting for an initial decision on their asylum claim at the end of last year, and that, among those trapped in the Home Office backlog and unable to work there are thousands of doctors, nurses and other medical professionals.
Meanwhile, the NHS in England is facing a recruitment crisis that has left it with 154,000 fewer full-time staff than needed and could leave it short of 571,000 staff by 2036.
Robina Qureshi, the chief executive of the refugee charity Positive Action in Housing, which is providing resettlement grants to asylum seekers to help them work in the NHS, said that Brexit had led to an exodus of people leaving the UK for a cheaper life elsewhere in Europe, while NHS waiting lists soar. “Yet here in the UK we estimate there are thousands of potential nurses, carers and doctors who are available to work and contribute to our society right now,” she added.
The Doctors’ Association UK called on the government to allow qualified asylum seekers to work and called on ministers to act urgently to resolve the “ridiculous situation”.
A spokesperson for the campaign group, which is led by frontline doctors, said: “It is a clear failure of government thinking to not allow qualified individuals who are present in the country and willing to work, but are prevented from doing so due to bureaucratic failures.
“Nobody benefits from this situation, neither the public nor the individuals caught in this traumatic set of circumstances.”
This is what happens when you adopt a fortress mentality and play the right wing popularist. It is not just those fleeing war, famine and torture who suffer, but the whole country.
The Observer reports that there are more than 160,000 asylum seekers still waiting for an initial decision on their asylum claim at the end of last year, and that, among those trapped in the Home Office backlog and unable to work there are thousands of doctors, nurses and other medical professionals.
Meanwhile, the NHS in England is facing a recruitment crisis that has left it with 154,000 fewer full-time staff than needed and could leave it short of 571,000 staff by 2036.
Robina Qureshi, the chief executive of the refugee charity Positive Action in Housing, which is providing resettlement grants to asylum seekers to help them work in the NHS, said that Brexit had led to an exodus of people leaving the UK for a cheaper life elsewhere in Europe, while NHS waiting lists soar. “Yet here in the UK we estimate there are thousands of potential nurses, carers and doctors who are available to work and contribute to our society right now,” she added.
The Doctors’ Association UK called on the government to allow qualified asylum seekers to work and called on ministers to act urgently to resolve the “ridiculous situation”.
A spokesperson for the campaign group, which is led by frontline doctors, said: “It is a clear failure of government thinking to not allow qualified individuals who are present in the country and willing to work, but are prevented from doing so due to bureaucratic failures.
“Nobody benefits from this situation, neither the public nor the individuals caught in this traumatic set of circumstances.”
This is what happens when you adopt a fortress mentality and play the right wing popularist. It is not just those fleeing war, famine and torture who suffer, but the whole country.
