NHS bosses have warned that proposals to extend waiting periods for indefinite leave would create uncertainty in the workforce and lower morale. 

Proposed immigration reforms would make it harder to retain experienced and skilled NHS support staff, employers have warned. 

Home secretary Shabana Mahmood is consulting on plans to make foreign workers wait up to 15 years to achieve permanent residency, which critics fear will create uncertainty for essential staff and their managers. 

The proposals, which would see the period before foreign workers can claim indefinite leave to remain increase from five to 15 years, have been described as “devastating” by Helga Pile, chair of joint health unions and head of health at UNISON. 

Health unions and NHS Employers, which represents leaders in the organisation, are concerned that extending the settlement pathway will make it harder to retain experienced staff and damage morale. Additional visa-related employment costs also risk placing a significant financial burden on the NHS. The government should retain the five-year settlement period for healthcare support workers and other NHS staff already living and working in the UK, the groups argue.  

“Their expertise and commitment cannot be easily replaced,” said Pile. “They’re highly trained and skilled in performing clinical duties and observations, keeping people safe, comforted and cared for.”

Not only would it be “extremely unfair” to change the rules for people who have planned their lives around them, said Ben Morrin, chief executive of NHS Employers, but it would also leave NHS organisations with an “eye-watering bill” due to extra administrative and visa costs. 

Under the proposals, the time it would take to achieve settlement status depends on the skill level of the applicant’s job, although income is taken into account as well. Those deemed to have a ‘higher skilled’ role could be looking at ten years rather than 15, while it is slashed further for high earners. It’s also understood that doctors and nurses may settle after five years. 

The Home Office argues the reforms will mean settlement is earned rather than automatic. 

More than 200,000 responses to the consultation have been received, with final details expected later this autumn. 

A Home Office spokesperson told Healthcare Today: “Last November, we set out reforms to double the standard qualifying period to ten years for most migrants, with shorter routes for those who contribute most to the UK. A consultation on elements of those reforms has now closed, and we will set out our response in due course.”