Zimbabwean nurses affected as UK halts overseas recruitment of care workers
The UK’s visa ban on foreign care workers could shut out thousands of Zimbabwean nurses, deepening a dire healthcare job crisis at home.
For many Zimbabwean nurses and care workers, the UK has been a beacon of hope.
Migrating to the UK has been a chance to escape joblessness and poor working conditions back home. But that door may be closing.
UK to stop recruiting care workers from abroad
On Sunday, UK Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced that care worker visas for foreign applicants will soon be scrapped. Going forward, care providers in the UK must either hire local citizens or extend the contracts of foreign workers already in the country.
Speaking with Trevor Phillips on Sky News, Cooper said: “We’re going to introduce new restrictions on lower-skilled workers, so new visa controls, because we think actually what we should be doing is concentrating on the higher-skilled migration and we should be concentrating on training in the UK.
“Also, we will be closing the care worker visa for overseas recruitment”.
According to Cooper, the new policy could lead to a decrease of up to 50,000 low-skilled worker visas in just one year. Despite this, she didn’t provide an exact figure for how much the government intends to reduce total net migration, only saying it should come down “substantially.”
A development that affects Zimbabwean nurses?
For thousands of Zimbabwean healthcare professionals who have been banking on UK opportunities, this comes as a heavy blow.
With hospitals at home struggling to absorb trained Zimbabwean nurses and caregivers, and few prospects in the public sector, the UK’s new stance could leave many stuck in limbo, trained but with nowhere to go.
Zimbabwean nurses remain in limbo
Zimbabwean nurses remain stuck in the middle as the healthcare system continues to face challenges. The government recently stepped in and stopped more than 4 000 qualified nurses from leaving for jobs in the UK. The government fears that the exodus of health workers is putting public hospitals at risk, according to Zimbabwe Mail.
Is it fair to ask nurses to stay and serve a system that continues to fail them?
Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1.
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