Matt Warman, MP for Boston and Skegness, has met the new Home Secretary, Sajid Javid MP, to press the case for reform of the requirements for medical visas, highlighting how this would help address wider recruitment challenges at Pilgrim Hospital.

In a meeting with the Home Secretary this week, Matt outlined the current recruitment challenges faced by the United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust. While paediatricians are already exempt from the cap on visas, a wider reform of the rules on medical visas would make it easier for the Trust to recruit staff for other departments, strengthening the overall service it can offer across Lincolnshire.

Currently, there is a cap on the amount of Tier 2 visas, which are needed by non-European migrants who have been offered a skilled job in the UK, but concerns have been raised about the impact of this cap on the wider NHS. Both the Home Secretary and the Health Secretary have said they would like to see reform to medical visas, and the Prime Minister has committed to looking at it.

Matt said,

“I was pleased to have the opportunity to lobby the Home Secretary about medical visas, and urge him to do all he can to consider the impact of the Tier 2 visa cap on the NHS. In the longer term, the forthcoming Lincolnshire medical school will help to address the NHS workforce challenges faced in our county, but in the short term we need to look at options to relieve pressure on services, and relaxing visa requirements for some clinicians will help towards this. I want to see all those people who want to work in our brilliant NHS and have the right qualifications get the opportunity to come and contribute to our health services, so I hope to see Government action on this matter soon.”