Government ‘to relax immigration restrictions on non-EU medical staff’

Government ‘to relax immigration restrictions for non-EU medical staff’ to help fill 100,000 much-needed NHS jobs

• NHS had 102,821 dr and nurses vacancies across its trusts at end of September
• And 3,156 were waiting more than a year for treatment when summer ended
• NHS Providers’ chief executive warns ‘this winter may be worse than the last’ 
• Now, under medical training initiative immigration could be relaxed for staff

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The government is set to relax its immigration laws in a bid for more doctors to come to Britain and help soothe the strain of a lack of doctors. 

As it stands, under the medical training initiative (MTI), 1,500 foreign doctors are allowed to come and work on our shores but ministers have agreed to allow that to rise anywhere up to 3000, according to The Guardian. 

They added that the doctors can also stay for a year longer, up from two to three, under the new plans.    

The health service is set to face a bleak winter, an NHS Improvement report suggests (stock)

The problem is so bad that ministers are aware they could start an argument around immigration by letting more foreign doctors by lifting the cap on MTI. 

It’s a worthy risk considering the strain on the NHS according to the likes of Matt Hancock, the health secretary, who has been lobbying the Home Office over the issue. 

The move could be suggested in the NHS long-term plan, due to be revealed in mid-December.

The news comes after expert warned the NHS is set to face a more challenging winter than last year, off the back of a damning report.

There were 102,821 vacancies for doctors and nurses across all trusts at the end of September, according to an NHS Improvement report.

The number of people waiting more than a year for treatment at the end of the summer was 3,156 – compared to 1,778 for the same period in 2017.

And trusts even announced they were £4.3billion in debt last quarter – the second in the 2018/19 period – due to rising patient demand.  

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‘All trusts are warning that, despite improvements, this coming winter is likely to be more challenging than the last,’ said Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers – the trade body that represents NHS services.

‘The reality is, however hard trusts work, they cannot keep up with the growth in demand for care.’

Figures also showed a quarter of a million more people visited A&E during the summer than during the same period in 2017.

There were 940 more emergency admissions made every day between July and September compared to the hot months of last year.

A total of 6.18million people visited A&E last summer – which is 252,360, or 4.3 per cent, more than the same period in 2017.

JUST HOW STRETCHED IS THE NHS?

Waiting times at over-stretched A&E units are at their worst level since records began, according to official figures in April 2018.

Experts said the NHS was in the grip of an ‘eternal winter’ and many hospitals are still struggling to cope with the unprecedented pressure. 

Health and Social Care Secretary Jeremy Hunt was forced to admit it was the ‘worst winter ever’ amid a severe outbreak of flu and cold weather.

Chiefs cancelled thousands of operations in a controversial move to ease pressure. And experts have suggested this may be the only option to stop a crisis next year. 

The latest monthly data from NHS England also shows that waiting times for routine operations, such as knee and hip replacements, are at their highest since 2004.  

And violent assaults on staff have risen by 10 per cent in a year – partly driven by frustration with waiting times. 

The high A&E demand meant people had to wait longer for planned treatment, said NHS Improvement, which is responsible for all NHS-funded care

The report also found NHS staff treated more emergency patients within the four-hour A&E standard – 5.52million compared with 5.34million for the previous quarter. 

Mr Hopson said trusts must be given realistic financial and performance targets over the next year. He added the report’s figures ‘reflect a very difficult summer for trusts and their staff’.

‘[Staff] have worked flat out to grapple with an unholy combination of rapidly rising demand, an ongoing financial squeeze and a once-in-a-generation workforce shortage problem,’ he added.

‘Once again, trusts have delivered a heroic performance, treating more patients than ever before within the A&E target, improving discharge rates and continuing to deliver stretching levels of financial savings.  

‘We have to be honest about the demand and workforce pressures in front of us and what it will take to meet these challenges.  

‘Trusts must be given realistic financial and operational performance targets next year that they can actually deliver. They must be properly funded to break the current cycle of ever worsening performance.

‘And we still need more urgent action to address workforce shortages.’

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has been active in lobbying for relaxed borders to help NHS

Ian Dalton, chief executive of NHS Improvement, added: ‘The NHS is working flat out to ensure record numbers of patients get the care they need. Frontline staff and managers deserve tremendous praise for their heroism.

‘But this achievement continues to come at a cost with performance targets not being met nationally and hospitals being unable to balance their books to cover the increased demand on their services.

‘The long-term plan is our opportunity to fundamentally redesign how the NHS works so that it can continue to provide high-quality care for patients.’

Trusts have identified savings they can make throughout the year and are planning to end 2018 £80million better off than they were at the start of the financial year, the report added.

At the end of the year, the sector forecasts a deficit of £558million, according to NHS Improvement, which is responsible for overseeing foundation trusts, NHS trusts and independent providers that provide NHS-funded care.  

The long-term plan for the NHS, which is being led by NHS Improvement and NHS England, is expected to be published next month.

NHS Improvement said it will ‘set out a clear path to recovery’ to both sustain and improve patient care in England over the next decade.

The plan will include how the £20.5billion of additional funding from the Government will be spent over the next five years from April.

It will focus on preventing ill health and a commitment to invest £3.5billion a year in primary and community healthcare services to cut avoidable hospital admissions and help patients return home sooner.

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