There is currently a charge of over £400 which is payable for all migrants who come from non-EU countries. It doesn’t matter whether they access any NHS service or not because they need to pay it for themselves and then again for any dependents. Nursing staff who come from overseas and who are employed in the UK actually pay for the NHS via income tax and also through National Insurance payments.

A nurse who has two kids from a country that is not in the EU is taking up a post in the UK and starting at Band 5. This means that she would need to work a total of 116 hours just to pay the amount that they are going to be charged under the terms as they stand. This would pose as a problem for those who are part of a nursing recruitment agency or a nurse agency.

The Conservative Party are going to increase this amount to £625. They are also going to extend it to anyone who comes from the EU as well. If this was to happen then the same nurse would then have to work until February, or for a total of 183 hours before they can even begin to see any improvement in salary.

Donna Kinnair, who is the RCN Chief Executive has described the surcharge as being unjust and that all of the hard-working nurses who come from overseas are going to be treat this way until something is done about it. She also went on to say that healthcare services in the UK are stretched right now and that they are beyond breaking point. They can’t afford any deterrents to anyone who is abroad and that they also need to work hard to fill the posts that are not currently even being looked at.