Changes to the Health and Care visa rules, brought in last year, have led to a sharp drop in applications from overseas care workers, falling from 129,000 in 2023–24 to just 26,000. But there's more to this issue than just the headline numbers. The Health Foundation has pointed out that back in 2021, social care providers were already facing record vacancies. They were competing with the retail and hospitality sectors for staff, all while dealing with the long-term effects of Brexit on international recruitment.
To tackle that, the government made care workers and home care workers eligible for the Health and Care visa. Yet this move also had an unintended downside: it opened the door for rogue companies to exploit overseas workers by abusing the visa route. In part to deal with that risk – and under pressure to bring down migration numbers – the government introduced new rules that stopped care workers from bringing dependants. As the Health Foundation noted, "Stopping care workers, who are mostly women, from bringing their families with them was controversial, and being isolated may put workers at higher risk of exploitation and financial insecurity."
Of course, efforts to crack down on exploitation are important. But without a workforce plan to boost domestic recruitment, did anyone really think through the impact these visa changes might have on social care staffing? Or is this yet another case of the sector being left to deal with the fallout from hasty government decisions?
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