The health care
With the United Kingdom’s official exit from the European Union, the country has faced several challenges, including a severe labour shortage. This is particularly prevalent in the health and care sectors, where a lack of nurses and care workers has led to significant issues. The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has only exacerbated this problem, with the world still struggling to contain the spread of the virus.
In the health sector, the staff shortage has a ripple effect, causing a significant collapse in the Industry. The lack of nurses and other healthcare workers has meant that hospitals and clinics have been unable to provide adequate patient care, leading to further complications. The care sector has also been affected similarly, with a lack of staff causing significant issues for those needing Care.
The government imports foreign workers
The government has had to look beyond the country’s borders to find help to address this labour shortage crisis. In doing so, they have had to change immigration laws to make it easier for foreigners to come and work in the UK, particularly in the health and care sectors. This has been necessary to ensure that the Industry can continue functioning effectively, even in labour shortages.
The government recognised the need for more healthcare workers, so they changed the immigration laws to make it easier for foreigners to come and fill the vacancies. As part of these changes, the government introduced a new, more relaxed immigration process that allowed people with no prior experience in care services to work as care assistants in the country.
No additional qualifications are required
To be eligible for this program, applicants had to score a minimum of 4.5 on the IELTS General Exam, which tests basic English speaking and writing skills. In addition, they had to demonstrate that they had enough funds to support themselves for a month.
The changes to the immigration laws attracted the interest of people from third-world countries such as India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka and African countries like Zimbabwe and Uganda. Many of these people were eager to take advantage of this opportunity to come and work in the country’s healthcare sector.
The government’s decision to change the immigration laws was favourable, as it helped to address the shortage of healthcare workers in the country while also providing people from other countries an opportunity to work and improve their lives.
Health Care vacancies 165,000
Between 2020 and 2022, there was a significant demand for additional care workers in the healthcare industry. The exact number of care workers required during this period was about 165000, highlighting the pressing need for more professionals in this field.
During the same time frame, roughly 390,000 individuals left their jobs in the healthcare industry, increasing the gap in the number of care workers needed to meet the growing demand for healthcare services.
To address this issue, the government has taken a step forward and issued 78000 care worker visas between June 2022 and June 2023. However, despite the government’s efforts, many vacant positions still need to be filled to provide quality healthcare services to those in need.
Several types of Care Providers
Several types of Care Providers in the UK employ Care Workers or Support Workers from the short occupancy list. These include Nursing Homes, Care Homes, Domiciliary Care Agencies, Assisted Living or Supported Living Homes for elders, and Assisted Living or Supported Living Homes for Young Adults.
The National Health Service (NHS), Nursing Homes, and Care Homes are known to offer sponsorships to international applicants for the Health Care Assistant category. However, they usually prefer those with good English and at least five years of registered experience as a nurse in their country. Female candidates who are not nurses are hardly considered for sponsorships.
It is noteworthy that even if a Domiciliary Agency is successfully run, it hardly takes male applicants to provide Care. This is because many female clients prefer a female carer alone or with a male carer while receiving Care. Additionally, many male clients prefer female caregivers. Therefore, successful care providers hardly accept international sponsorships for male applicants.
The Health Care Assistant category provides Primary Care to patients, including monitoring vital signs, assisting with daily activities, and administering medication. Care providers must ensure that their staff is well-trained and capable of providing high-quality Care to patients. This is especially important for elderly patients and young adults who require specialised Care and attention.
Care homes and domiciliary Care offer valuable services
But amongst these, primarily foreign care workers are hired for domiciliary service and private care homes.
Care homes are residential facilities where older adults with certain medical conditions are provided Care and support. On the other hand, domiciliary Care involves visiting people in their homes and providing them with the necessary assistance.
While both care homes and domiciliary Care offer valuable services, there are differences between the two. Working in a care home is generally considered easier than working in domiciliary Care. Care homes are institutions that are well-managed, and they provide their employees with all the necessary provisions. Care home workers work in a single location, so they do not need to commute to different places, which saves a lot of time and effort. They also have access to all the necessary equipment and supplies, making their work more efficient.
Domiciliary care service is not easy
However, working in domiciliary Care can be more challenging. Domiciliary care workers have to travel to different locations to provide Care and support, which can be time-consuming and tiring. They also have to work under the residents’ facilities, which means they may not have access to all the necessary equipment and supplies. Moreover, domiciliary care workers may have to work in different locations with varying conditions, which can be challenging to manage.
In a care home, completing the scheduled hours for the week is easy. Workers must arrive at the appointed time and finish work at the designated time. However, this is only sometimes the case for domiciliary care workers. They may have to travel to different locations, and there may be gaps between the time available for two service providers. As a result, domiciliary care workers may have to wait several hours to provide eight hours of service. Furthermore, domiciliary care workers are not always paid for the time they spend travelling between locations.
During a conversation, a young woman from India who provides domiciliary care services shared some information with this writer. She mentioned that she has to work for an extended period, from 5 a.m. until 9 p.m. However, there is an issue with her payment as she only gets paid for eight hours of work during this lengthy period.
Wages are paid for hours worked
Employees are not entitled to a salary for the time spent travelling between their workplaces or during the time gap between two services. This means that any travel or gap time is not considered working time, so no payment is made for it. Employees must be aware of this policy, which can affect their overall pay and work schedule.
Following the relaxation of immigration rules for care workers, a significant number of care homes and domiciliary institutions with sponsor licences took advantage of the new regulations and promptly began hiring foreign workers. Additionally, many organisations were eager to apply for a new sponsor licence to access the expanded pool of foreign workers.
However, several care homes encountered difficulties in directly recruiting foreign workers, necessitating the services of employment agents. While some reputable institutions have taken the legitimate route of recruiting through their websites, many have had to seek the help of agents.
Agents have become a popular option for some care homes and domiciliary institutions as they provide access to a wider pool of foreign workers.
Foreign workers should not be charged with any money
Foreign workers looking to work in the United Kingdom face challenges due to some agencies that take advantage of the government’s immigration law. According to the law, foreign workers should not be charged any money, and the employer should pay the skill visa charge of £1000 per year when hiring an employee. However, some agents the government does not recognise exploit this opportunity and collect money from foreign workers. These agents, often ordinary people, make it difficult for young men and women from South Asian and African countries to work in the United Kingdom.
These agents make it impossible to prove their illegal activities. They target vulnerable foreign workers who are desperate for a job and collect money from them illegally. Even though cash is given to these agents illegally, they manage to keep it a secret, making it difficult for authorities to take action against them.
Uk revealed several incidents of such abuse
Recently, one of the leading TV channels in the UK revealed several incidents of such abuse. However, a proper investigation is required to understand the gravity of the situation. Many young men and women from different parts of the world who aim to work in the United Kingdom have fallen victim to these agents.
First, these agencies charged about £5000 for one cos. At present, the value of this visa may have increased up to £20000, and it is believed that the prices are rising because there has been an influx of foreign care workers, almost as many as the government requires. This situation has led to the speculation that this visa category may end soon.
Recently, This writer visited a domiciliary care agency to enquire about job openings. An agent said they had stopped accepting applications as they already had an excess of workers and could not provide the required number of working hours. The agent further explained that as there is an oversupply of workers, the competition for jobs has increased, which has led to a decline in wages. The situation has become challenging for both the workers and the agencies, and they are struggling to keep up with the demand and supply dynamics.
Minimum Salary 20.960 per annum
The government has imposed a law that requires a minimum wage of £20,960 per year or £10.75 per hour for care workers. However, to qualify for this salary, an employee needs to earn more than £400 a week, which means working at least 37 hours a week or more.
This is not a major issue for care home workers, but it’s challenging for domiciliary care workers. This is because, as mentioned earlier in this article, the employee must spend the same number of hours roaming the streets to work 37 hours or more in a week and receive the appropriate salary. This is an unfortunate situation.
Damn valuable work
The current situation is quite unfortunate for those who have come to the UK to work as care assistants under the care worker visa category. It is not just people with basic knowledge but also experienced nurses from countries like India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh who are working as care assistants. Many of these foreign nurses have years of training and experience, but they are unable to work as nurses in the UK without obtaining a pin. This is because the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) requires all nurses wishing to work in the UK to get a pin, a licence to work as a nurse.
However, obtaining a pin is a challenging task as it requires an additional course and an extra fee. For these reasons, some foreign nurses are not interested in getting a pin. This is a significant concern as these nurses, who are highly qualified and experienced, are working as care assistants instead of nurses.
The NHS has a shortage of nurses
The situation is further complicated by the fact that the National Health Service (NHS) is currently facing a severe shortage of employees. Despite this, experienced foreign nurses are working as care assistants, which is not an optimal use of their skills and experience. It is a difficult situation for everyone involved, highlighting the need for a more streamlined process for foreign nurses to obtain a pin and work as nurses in the UK.
Government takes action to investigate
It is imperative that the government takes action to investigate the agents who are collecting money illegally by charging unauthorised fees. This issue is not only a matter of financial exploitation, but it also affects the lives of foreign care assistants who come to work in the country. Based on the accounts of some foreign care assistants, it has come to light that many agencies are profiting from this visa category by charging exorbitant fees. In fact, some Indian care assistants have revealed that the agencies earn more money than the government.
It is worth noting that many individuals who come to work under this care visa category are often forced to pay money to an agent to secure their employment. This is an unfair and illegal practice that must be stopped. Given these facts, it is no surprise that the number of people affected by this issue is increasing.
It is essential to mention that some legitimate agencies follow the government’s regulations and hire foreign care assistants fairly and transparently. These agencies serve as an example of how the system can work effectively when everyone follows the rules. Therefore, the government should take action to identify and penalise those who are violating regulations and exploiting foreign care assistants. This would protect the workers and ensure that the visa category is being used for its intended purpose.
How to do COS issue?
The company that operates in the genuinely caring Industry is very selective in issuing Certificates of Sponsorship (COS). They only issue one or two at most, and each COS requires a series of at least three interviews. However, female candidates who are not nurses can also get the opportunity if they have a high level of English, subject understanding, and a valid driving licence.
Before the Home Office approves new COS applications, they provide the Care Quality Commission (CQC) with detailed information about the care agency that has applied for a COS. The Home Office requests a report from the CQC, which includes the following information:
1. The number of COS already allocated and issued to each care agency by the Home Office helps the Home Office decide whether to grant more COS to the same agency.
2. The list of clients registered with the care agency includes the elderly, disabled, or other care-requiring individuals they serve. This information is essential for the Home Office to determine the need for additional care providers in a particular area.
3. The number of legal agreements made by the care agency and all pertinent information. This information is vital to ensure the care agency operates legally and complying with all necessary regulations.
4. The report also includes information about how care homes or domiciliary agencies acquire clients/patients and the reason for having work in some institutions but not in others. This information helps the Home Office understand the demand for care services and the reasons why certain care providers may be more successful than others.
By providing this detailed information, the Home Office can make informed decisions about which care agencies to grant COS to, ensuring that they provide a high standard of Care to those who need it while also operating legally and in compliance with regulations.
How do care homes get residents?
A Care Provider receives clients from the Local Authority (that is, the City Council) through NHS direct discharge (that is, those sent home from hospitals and centres belonging to the UK National Health Service) and high-end Care Home Chains and Branded Domiciliary Agencies. There are also private clients.
What is the reason for the Home Office to start intensive investigations like this?
If the Care Provider is really in the Care Business, he should be committed to running his company and paying salaries to the employees. He has to maintain a perfect close relationship with the City Council/Local Authority or several Local Authorities in the vicinity, and he has to provide a very high level of service to his clients per the CQC’s rules, regulations, and quality standards. Only those who can provide quality care with excellent English and professional knowledge should be selected when interviewing local caregivers with sponsorships or work rights. Even the NHS gives direct discharge only after considering the above facts. Who receives Care at personal expense? Every care provider likes the clients the most. The price they charge is high. This group is a group of people who get Care at their own expense or a group of people who have transferred a high private pension to a care provider, so they pay a lot of money and expect a very high level of service. Even then, the Carer’s Employer has to pay close attention to the Carer’s English Standard, professional knowledge and experience.
COS issue for a high amount of money
But recently, with the high demand for international COS and the environment created with it, a lot of Domicilery Care Agencies have sprung up at junction after junction with the sole purpose of selling COS. They did not come to the Industry to run their organisations with the income from the Care Industry. Several Agents or a series of Agents are doing COS issues for a high amount of money. As mentioned above, they have no desire to find new clients, maintain CQC standards and stay in the Industry as a Care Provider. That is why some institutions have yet to interview international applicants. They didn’t even consider whether the people they gave sponsorships to were women or men; it didn’t matter to them that there was no work to give to men. They should have considered the English standard, professional knowledge and experience of the brought institutions or employees.
Unskilled male workers
Also, some people had some qualifications and linguistic knowledge, especially amongst them, there were more male applicants. Experience Language When Females Get Genuine Care Agencies
Male Applicants were often caught in the institutes that were set up to do this kind of useless COS issue. Because they did not get opportunities with genuine companies!!!! Also, females who were afraid to go to the interview due to poor English or some other reason or who needed more knowledge were caught in this.
Sometimes, these employees are disappointed
Either the COS was cancelled before they came to this country, the visa was refused, or the agent took the money and moved, or they came to this country, but there was no work for them in the “COS shop” sponsored by them. Some COS shop owners collected their money and went into hiding.
Here, the Dependent can do something, English standard, the people who have knowledge and experience about Care, either by themselves, from those who brought them (Agents) or someone who had “humanity” that they know or don’t know.
They found other institutions with help, but a group of people with little knowledge of English fell to the bottom. Some of them went back, presented various reasons to the Home Office for not being able to return to their country and requested asylum. They had asked for the Citizens Advisory Bureau money to pay house rent and food expenses.
As these things continue to happen, the number of people immigrating to this country has also increased, and the citizens of this country have been hindered from getting facilities like medicine, hospitals, schools, renting houses, and getting jobs due to this relentless immigration. They complained to the government. For all these reasons, the Home Office intervened to regulate this process.
The home office is working hard
A company has requested a new COS 02 from the Home Office. However, the Home Office record shows that they have previously issued a COS 40 under the same company name. To verify the details, the Home Office has contacted CQC to determine the number of currently active client contracts registered with that Care Provider. These contracts may include Local Authority, NHS, or Private work contracts for elderly care. Some of the previous COS 40 contracts have been lost for various reasons, such as the death of clients, termination of service contracts due to ill intentions, and illness where the service is no longer needed.
CQC has provided a report to the Home Office with the details of the active client contracts. Based on this report, the Home Office has put the allocation of the two newly requested COS on hold. They have informed the Care Agency that COS 40 has been issued and that there are 30 available jobs. If any workers are available, they will be given permission to allocate this COS 02 if more work is available and the workers are needed.
In case of issuing about 50 COS, if there are only two client work contracts, the COS allocation will be held directly, the visa requested from them will be held, and those organisations will be handed over to the CQC for investigation and given to the Home Office immigration abuse team for COS and visa investigation. The CQC licence will be suspended, and if the care provider fails to perfect the things requested by the CQC, the CQC licence will be cancelled completely, the sponsor licence from the Home Office will be suspended, and a deadline will be set to show that the work is in line with the COS issued as requested by the Home Office. If the work contract is made at that time, the suspended sponsor license will be activated again at the Home Office.
The investigation is good
Due to an ongoing investigation, allocating Certificates of Sponsorship (COS) to home offices may take longer than usual. If a care provider is under investigation and suspended, their COS will only be granted if they correct any issues and maintain their licence. However, if they fail to submit the correct information within the given deadline, the company’s sponsorship licence may be suspended and possibly even terminated.
If a company’s sponsorship is completely cancelled, then any pending visa applications given by that institution will be rejected. For those who are already in this country under the company’s sponsorship, if the sponsorship is wholly cancelled, they will receive a letter from the home office notifying them of the cancellation and giving them 60 days to find another sponsorship.
If a licenced sponsor is under investigation and suspended, they cannot allocate COS during this period. Even if visas are applied under priority or super-priority, they will not be granted for those sponsored by the suspended sponsor.
