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UK’s ‘cruel tax’: Indian doctors, nurses to pay more for own treatment
The rise, announced in the Conservative manifesto for the December 2019 election, was confirmed by chancellor Rishi Sunak during his budget speech on Wednesday.
Faced with tens of thousands of vacancies in National Health Service (NHS), Britain’s healthcare leaders on Thursday described as a “cruel tax” the rise announced by the Boris Johnson government in the ‘immigration health surcharge’ levied on Indian and other non-EU health professionals, from £400 to £624.
The rise, announced in the Conservative manifesto for the December 2019 election, was confirmed by chancellor Rishi Sunak during his budget speech on Wednesday. The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is among stake-holders calling for the surcharge to be scrapped.
The annual surcharge, to be paid at the time of applying for UK visa by anyone coming for more than six months, is levied on the main applicant as well as on each dependent, raising the overall visa cost since it was introduced in 2015. It is not levied when the immigrant qualifies for permanent stay, usually after five years.
Donna Kinnair, RCN’s chief executive, said: “Nurses from overseas already pay for the NHS through their taxes and there can be no justification to increase this cruel tax to more than £600”.
“Nurses don’t just have to pay for themselves, but for any dependent children they have as well. At a time when there are more than 40,000 nursing vacancies, and difficulties in recruitment, the government must exempt nurses from this heartless charge,” she added.
Sunak said in his budget speech: “Migrants benefit from our NHS. And we all want them to do so – but it’s right that what people get out, they also put in. There is a surcharge already, but it doesn’t properly reflect the benefits people receive”.
“So, as we promised in our manifesto, we are increasing the Immigration Health Surcharge to £624, with a discounted rate for children”.
Ramesh Mehta, president of the British Association for Physicians of Indian Origin (Bapio), added: “This rise is extremely unfortunate. It does not make sense: people already paying taxes are asked to pay such a significant amount, while they themselves are providing much needed medical services”.
“This will put off qualified health professionals from coming to the UK”, he said.
Doctors who qualified in India constitute the largest group in the NHS, after UK-trained doctors. A large number of Indian nurses are also employed in the NHS, which continues to hold recruitment drives in India to fill large number of vacancies.
Usha Parashar of Ficci-UK, added: “The increase in the health surcharge to £624 will add to the already expensive visa fees for overseas skilled workers. This will be an additional burden on Indian businesses operating in the UK”.
