Support migrant NHS and social care staff

11th February 2021 bcpdt

Migrant healthcare workers are facing additional worries over visas while caring for patients during the pandemic, says Mictin Janardhanan Ponmala.

This article titled “Support migrant NHS and social care staff” was written by Letters, for The Guardian on Monday 8th February 2021 17.11 UTC

I am an overseas NHS nurse from Luton and Dunstable university hospital. Overseas nurses have held the hands of patients who have succumbed to sickness, more prominently Covid. Knowing all the risks and dangers that this role entails, we still carry on and provide the best nursing care to the British public.

The thought of us being thousands of miles away from our families is quite daunting, but on top of this we have to deal with the complexity and politics involved regarding our stay in the UK.

The government has given some of us free visa extensions for a year and we are truly grateful for that. But this pandemic is not going away in a year’s time and this puts us under immense pressure. I truly believe that the immigration (health and social care staff) bill, which calls for migrant healthcare workers to be granted indefinite leave to remain, will lift that heavy burden that we are experiencing.

I am merely asking people to help us so that we may continue helping the great nation that is United Kingdom get back on its feet. I have started a petition calling for indefinite leave to remain to be offered to all NHS and social care workers. Please sign it here and share it.
Mictin Janardhanan Ponmala
Luton, Bedfordshire

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tagged with Article, Coronavirus, Doctors, Health, Health policy, Hospitals, Immigration and asylum, Infectious diseases, Journal, Letters, NHS, Nursing, Politics, Public services policy, Social care, The Guardian, UK Letters and Leader Writers

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