NHS could cease to function under Labour’s new visa rules, say nurses

The NHS and social care would cease to function under the government’s new rules to be imposed on foreign staff, nursing leaders have said, as hundreds of medics condemned the policy as “divisive and xenophobic”.

In the most explicit attack yet on Labour’s proposed restrictions on overseas workers, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) described the plan as “ignorant” and “pandering” to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.

Prof Nicola Ranger, the RCN general secretary, told the Guardian on Monday: “Health and care services would cease to function without migrant nursing staff. While other countries offer immediate paths to settlement for nurses, the UK is going in the opposite direction.”

Labour is proposing to double the time that overseas workers will have to wait – from five to 10 years – before they can apply for indefinite leave to remain or claim any kind of benefit, including tax-free childcare, disability living allowance or housing support.

Related: Hundreds of prison officers may have to leave UK after Labour’s visa rule change

The plans, outlined by the home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, at the Labour conference last week, would also mean foreign workers would have to volunteer in their local communities and pass a number of other existing tests to gain British citizenship.

The proposals were first outlined the government’s immigration white paper in May and are seen as a direct response to the rising electoral threat of Reform UK.

The RCN, which represents more than 500,000 nurses in the UK and overseas, said the policy would “deny people access to vital support for a decade or more, increase poverty and ultimately drive them away when there are already gaping holes in the workforce”.

Ranger, who is also the union’s chief executive, added: “These proposals are no way to treat people who come to the UK to care for patients, become part of our communities and pay tax.

“It is pandering of the worst kind, ignorant of the impact on valued migrant staff and their families, but also the patients who need safely staffed services. Yes, ministers need to grow the domestic workforce, but the UK must also be a welcoming, secure place for international nurses.”

More than 800 NHS workers criticised the plan on Monday as “harmful, divisive and xenophobic” and warned that the health service would “crumble” without them.

Related: Foreign staff have ‘changed our lives’: Scottish farmers fear for future after changes to skilled worker visas

The plans have caused concern in several key public services – including the NHS, social care and prisons – which rely heavily on overseas workers. About one in five NHS staff in England are not British, according to official figures.

In a letter coordinated by the groups Praxis and Medact, the 800-plus medics said the “already strained NHS would crumble under the pressure” of these proposals, potentially triggering a staff exodus and discouraging overseas medics from working in the UK.

A social worker who spoke to the Guardian on condition of anonymity said 25-50% or more of his team would be likely to leave the UK if the government made it harder for them to gain citizenship. “The policy is foolish in terms of the impact it’s going to have on the NHS and [it’s] cruel on all the people it’s going to affect,” he said.

The letter says nurses, doctors, dentists and other NHS professionals are “deeply concerned” by Mahmood’s plans to impose “longer and more precarious” routes to settlement.

“These extended pathways – often requiring up to 10 years or more of continuous residency – exacerbate instability, making it harder for people to fully participate in society and rebuild their lives,” it said.

Praxis, a human rights charity, said 40% of people on the existing 10-year route to settlement were healthcare workers.

Related: I got British citizenship via the five-year route. Labour’s new 10-year rule will cause untold pain | Nesrine Malik

Cate Bailey, an NHS consultant psychiatrist, said she was outraged by the “attacks” on migrant workers: “The hundreds of signatures on this letter shows that health workers will not stand for these harmful, divisive and xenophobic policies.”

An NHS psychologist who moved to the UK nearly a decade ago said it was “quite upsetting to be told by the government: you can’t be here”.

An NHS midwife, who moved to the UK from Nigeria as a child, said she felt “dragged through hell” battling the complex and expensive immigration system and that many would now simply give up.

The 26-year-old, who works in a London hospital, said the NHS would “crumble” without foreign-born workers. “I think it’s absolutely ludicrous. I’m not sure how the NHS would survive … The message it says is you’re not welcome here and all the hard work you put in isn’t welcome here.”

Government sources have indicated that the tough new measures would not apply to migrants already in the UK. However, it was reported last week that Mahmood was exploring ways to prevent this group from gaining citizenship after five years.

Charities have long called for an end to the protracted and expensive route to settlement, with several studies showing that in-work migrant families are far more likely to suffer poverty and destitution as they are excluded from basic welfare support including universal credit, child benefit and disability living allowance.

Research from the IPPR thinktank estimates that 1.5 million children in families with migrant parents live in poverty – accounting for more than a third of the total despite making up a fraction of the population.

A private briefing to ministers, seen by the Guardian, estimated that between 152,000 and 254,000 children in this cohort were in poverty in 2023, although other research has suggested this is closer to 400,000 children.

The proposals, which are due to be consulted on, do not have to be put to a vote before being introduced.

The Home Office has been contacted for comment.