Immigration rules to be relaxed for non-EU doctors and nurses

The changes to immigration law will be followed in the coming weeks with details of a new funding package to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the NHS
Theresa May is poised to increase the NHS’s budget by up to £6bn a year
Details are still unclear but the funding increase is expected to be paid for through a combination of increased taxes and higher borrowing

The NHS has insisted for a long time that the shortage of qualified medical staff was putting patients’ lives in danger
Among those refused tier 2 visas in recent months were GPs, psychiatrists and cancer specialists – for whom there are a significant number of vacancies
A cancer specialist working at an NHS trust in London told the BBC patients are waiting months for outpatient appointments, way beyond the NHS's 18-week target.
British Medical Association chair Chaand Nagpaul said: “It will be a relief to patients and staff across the NHS that common sense has finally prevailed.”

The proposed immigration changes relate to so-called Tier 2 visas - which are used by skilled workers from outside the European Economic Area and Switzerland
The Home Office says the annual 20,700 cap will remain in place, but will no longer apply to doctors and nurses.
The cap has led to thousands of medical staff being refused UK visas.
NHS England faces a recruitment crisis with more than 30,000 nurse vacancies and 10,000 doctors’ posts unfilled.

Home Secretary Sajid Javid hinted at the changes earlier this month, telling the BBC he "saw the problem" with the immigration cap and would take a “fresh look" at it
This latest move could indicate a new direction for immigration policy post-Brexit
Pressure group Migration Watch welcomed the change but said “in the longer term the answer has to be to train our own medics and not take them from countries that need them far more than we do”
A target of bringing net migration under 100,000 is still set by the government - though it has never been met.

The government is to relax immigration rules to allow more non-EU skilled workers into the UK.

The Home Office is expected to confirm that foreign doctors and nurses will be excluded from the government's visa cap.

The cap - introduced by Theresa May when she was home secretary - sets a limit for all non-EU skilled workers at 20,700 people a year.

But NHS bosses say the rules are making it difficult to recruit enough staff.

Economy