Monday 28 June 2021

New English Health Secretary needs to stop repatriation of care workers

 The Northern Echo and the i newspapers draw attention to a clear injustice, which, sadly, is not unique in the National Health and other social services either side of the border.

A HERO of the coronavirus pandemic who has spent months working in an intensive care unit and helping with the vaccine programme is facing being sent back to her home country.

Kim Stewart, a Canadian national, has worked at James Cook University Hospital since last December working in the ICU wards providing patient care.

She joined the workforce at James Cook in the middle of the UK's second Covid wave.

She spent New Year’s Eve attending to a 34 year-old patient given less than 24 hours to live.

She also spent time with families, preparing them to be able to say goodbye to family members.

Ms Stewart has also been involved with the logistics of the UK's largest vaccination programme, to help fight back against Covid.

Yet she has been informed she does not qualify for the one-year visa extension for front line health workers.

This is due to here role as a support worker, which is not on the 'vital' workers visa list.


It is to be hoped that Sajid Javid's status (he is a former Chancellor and also former Home Secretary) will enable him to prevail upon the current Home Secretary, Priti Patel, to abandon her narrow line on who and who is not vital to our caring services.

In the longer term, we must hope for a government which, if it is not able to rejoin the EU or even the EEA, allowing free movement of labour, will at least repeal the legislation which discriminates against Commonwealth citizens.


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