NHS nurses from overseas ‘pushed into poverty’ by UK welfare rules

NHS nurses from overseas are being “pushed into poverty” because of rules that deprive many people coming to work in the UK of welfare benefits for five years after they arrive.

They are being forced to borrow money, run up credit card debts and go without food because they are unable to make ends meet, according to a report from the Royal College of Nursing (RCN).

The nurses are on temporary visas, which means they are subject to the “no recourse to public funds” rule that bars them from claiming child benefit, housing benefit and universal credit for at least five years before they can apply for indefinite leave to remain.

Related: ‘I can’t do another year like last year’: nurses in England on cost of living crisis

The RCN is urging ministers to scrap the rule, which it says is unfair because foreign-trained nurses cannot obtain the benefits despite paying income tax and national insurance.

The report, based on a survey of more than 3,000 foreign nurses, warns that the policy “punishes” people for coming to work in the UK and is “risking a mass exodus of international nursing staff”. The understaffed health service already has about 40,000 vacancies for nurses.

One nurse said: “I have to borrow money from people. I have to go without food at times. I have to rely on [my] abusive ex [partner].”

Another said: “I had to go into credit card debt and do more weekend and night shifts in the past. This meant that I was away from my child and relied on [the] help of friends for childcare on nights and at weekends.”

A third said that the inability to access benefits discriminated against immigrants because: “It is another way of saying: ‘We care less about your welfare but are interested more about what you have to offer our society.’”

Last Friday, the United Nations said that it too wanted the rule axed for migrants .

In a report about people of colour in the UK, its committee on the elimination of racial discrimination recommended that “the state party [UK government] revise the no recourse to public funds rule and ensure that it does not expose migrant households to a higher risk of poverty and precarity”.

Patricia Marquis, the RCN’s executive director for England, said: “As it stands the current system denies migrants access to vital benefits, despite them paying tax and doing the same work as their domestically trained colleagues.

“The reality is that migrant nursing staff pushed into poverty will simply choose somewhere else to do their nursing . This is a tragedy for patient care.”

In recent years the NHS has become even more reliant on overseas staff. One in three nurses and health visitors and 36% of doctors in England are now non-UK nationals, though figures released last week showed that the total of 89,085 visas the Home Office gave health and care staff in the year to June was more than 80% down on the same period a year before, after immigration rules were tightened.

A government spokesperson did not respond directly to the RCN’s findings or its plea for change but praised NHS staff and highlighted that nurses are very likely to get a pay rise this year.

They said: “We hugely value the vital work that our nurses do day in, day out to care for patients. We recognise that people are still struggling with the cost of living, which is why this government wants to restore economic stability.

“The NHS is broken, but it is not beaten, and that is testament to the brilliant efforts of the NHS workforce, and in turn, it is important that we can support them in every way we can. We have accepted the recommendations of the NHS Pay Review Body for pay for NHS staff, including nurses, for 2024/25.”