Brits think immigration is damaging NHS – shocking reason why | Politics | News
Britons now believe immigration is more of a burden than a benefit to the country’s creaking NHS. The new survey reveals that 49% of people think this is the case; Only 22% say immigration provides greater benefits to healthcare.
Immigration advocates have long insisted the NHS is dependent on workers from abroad. According to the House of Commons Library, around one in five NHS workers in England have a nationality other than British. The most common nationalities on the NHS last year were British (1.2 million), Indian (79,400), Filipino (35,540), Nigerian (40,575) and Irish (13,840). Research from the Merlin Institute for Strategy and Prosperity shows strong doubts that immigration is good for the NHS.
Skepticism was highest among Reform voters; almost three-quarters viewed immigration as an overall burden on health services. This was the opinion of 56 percent of conservatives.
Labor voters were split; 36 per cent saw immigration as a positive thing for the NHS, while a third said it was a burden. London has the highest proportion of non-UK NHS staff (32%), according to Commons Library research. The lowest share is in the North East and Yorkshire (13%). The share of overseas staff is highest among doctors (36%) and nurses (30%) compared to general staff (19%).
Five thousand people across Great Britain took part in the survey.
Fred De Fossard, director of strategy at the Prosperity Institute, spoke about the shocking reason why people think immigration is damaging the NHS.
“The impacts of migration on healthcare have been a hotly debated issue for many years,” he said.
“Following the failed Health and Care Visa, which resulted in more dependents coming to the UK rather than workers, large-scale fraud and no reduction in waiting lists, the public are disappointed and now believe immigration is more of a burden than a benefit to the health service.
“This has been years in the making and is coming to a head after record immigration. Any party that wants to fix the health service and regain public confidence in it must present a clear plan to train more British doctors and nurses and ensure the NHS puts British patients and taxpayers first.”
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: “Mass immigration has put huge pressure on public services, especially the health service. We must embrace British doctors and nurses by creating an environment where they can stay and work in the UK rather than moving abroad to work.”
“The Conservative Party has put forward serious plans to reduce immigration figures altogether – introducing annual caps on visas, doubling the residence requirement for Indefinite Leave from five to 10 years and changing the ILR criteria so we can eliminate non-contributors. That way you restore control and ease the pressure on services.”
Alp Mehmet, from Migration Watch, said: “This is no surprise. The negative effects on the NHS and GP surgeries of very high immigration over the last 25 years, and particularly in the last 5-6 years, are dire. We must educate our own young people more and not steal medics from poor countries that need them more than we do.”
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