UK immigration cap could result in shortage in care sector

United Kingdom, 7th December: According to a UK care association, an annual cap on UK visas might lead to shortage of care workers in the UK.

A permanent cap on UK immigration will come into effect from April 2011 onwards. And this is going to limit the number of migrants from non-EU nations to immigrate to the UK due to stricter UK visa rules.

The changes announced by the UK government are being criticized by several care associations in the nation. It is being stated that the nation will see a significant decline in the care standards in case the government restricts the number of foreigners allowed to be recruited by the care associations in the UK.

According to Sheila Watson, owner of two Essex care homes, most of the workers in her care homes are highly proficient in English, reliable, professional and highly trained and they hail from non-EU nations.

Ms. Watson highlighted that a common predicament among owners of several care homes in the UK is that they can’t find adequate care workers having requisite qualification and other skills and willing to work for the required number of hours from within the UK.

Care workers are required to work for seven days a week throughout the year and hence, only few people are willing to undertake such work, added Ms. Watson. She also maintained that the agency workers do not care well about the care residents.

David Holroyd of the Essex Independent Care Association stated that the recent changes in the UK immigration cap do not care about the problems faced by the care homes in recruiting the staff.

Holroyd maintained that the problems faced by the care association in finding the required staff have been highlighted several times. He added that the care homes in the UK have found great success in the care staff hailing from outside the EU and it adequately compensates for the unwillingness of the local people to work as care staff in the UK.

Meanwhile, councilor Anna Waite from Southend Council said she was not aware of any such crisis faced by the UK care sector in hiring the required staff. She asserted on limiting the levels of UK immigration for non-EU migrants adding that the UK cannot allow high immigration levels at a time when its struggling to cope with soaring unemployment rate in the nation.