Commenting on the government’s migration plans, which include stopping overseas workers from bringing their families to the UK, UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea said:
“These cruel plans spell total disaster for the NHS and social care. They benefit no one.
“Migrant workers were encouraged to come here because both sectors are critically short of staff. Hospitals and care homes simply couldn’t function without them.
“There’s also a global shortage of healthcare staff. Migrants will now head to more-welcoming countries, rather than be forced to live without their families.
“The government is playing roulette with essential services just to placate its backbenchers and the far-right. But if ministers stopped ducking the difficult issues, and reformed social care as they’ve long promised, there wouldn’t be such a shortage of workers.
“None of this is rocket science. Fund care properly and raise wages, and the sector becomes a more attractive place to work. But take away the migrant workers currently stopping care from going under and it collapses.”
Notes to editors:
– UNISON is the UK’s largest union with more than 1.3 million members providing public services in education, local government, the NHS, police service and energy. They are employed in the public, voluntary and private sectors.
Media contacts:
Liz Chinchen M: 07778 158175 E: press@unison.co.uk
Anthony Barnes M: 07834 864794 E: a.barnes@unison.co.uk
The article Cruel migration plans are a disaster for health and social care first appeared on the UNISON National site.
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