There have been several changes in the National Health Service (NHS) over the past couple of years. Also, due to the pandemic, the UK has been more open to international healthcare works.
You might wonder how exactly it has changed and what’s the role of international healthcare workers in the system. If this is your case, then you have come to the right page. In this article, you will learn about crucial NHS insights and the role of immigrant workers in the system.
Insights About The NHS
The NHS is a general term for the publicly funded healthcare of the UK. There are three systems that are referred to using the term “NHS.” These are:
- The NHS in England
- NHS Wales
- NHS Scotland
Later on, the Health and Social Care in Northern Ireland was added separately. These 4 NHS services employ around 1.6 million people and have a combined budget of £136.7 billion.
The England NHS was announced to be reorganized in July of 2021. This is not the first time that this has happened, and the Care Bill 2021-22 published by the UK government indicated its plans to change the rules and structure of the NHS in England.
The set of changes that were included in the bill promotes collaboration within the system. The national NHS bodies recommended these in an effort to resolve the tension between the Social Care Act 2012 and the current rules of the NHS.
The Role of International Workers in the NHS
Around 170,000 of the total workforce of the NHS are non-British nationals which are around 13.9% of its total staff. That means that in every 7 NHS workers, one of them is a foreigner. This is how much international healthcare workers are involved in the system.
The largest numbers of foreign NHS staff are from India. There are around 27,620 Indian workers in the system. This is followed by 23,035 Filipinos, 13,975 Irish, and 10,225 Polish nationals. Meanwhile, EEA and EU nationals account for 5.5% of NHS workers, and 8.5% come from other parts of the world.
UK Ease Immigration Rules for Healthcare Workers
In the past 2 years, the NHS has been significantly affected by the pandemic. One of the most notable challenges they face is staff shortage. This is because many healthcare professionals either got sick or resigned from their posts. As a solution, the government has eased immigration rules to cope with the shortage.
Final Words
The NHS is one of the most revered healthcare systems in the world. It has a pretty solid structure, but its laws and rules are changing along with time. This is even more true during the pandemic when the NHS was put to the test.
Moreover, international healthcare workers play a vital role in the system. A large chunk of the workforce is composed of them. In the coming years, the number of foreign healthcare workers in the NHS will definitely increase, given that the UK is relaxing its immigration laws to cope with its healthcare worker shortage.