Ok 5 boring lines coming up first, please stick with it! Bills in Parliament happen via several ‘hearings’ from MPs, then they’re scrutinised line by line, then they go back to the House of Commons for ‘final amendments’, and this is where politicians can criticise bits of the bill, suggest final additions, and broaden the scope.
Holly Lynch MP is the Shadow Immigration Minister, which means she’s a powerful influence in the opposition to the government. She knew that EveryDoctor was working with Doctors on Visas to improve things. The final amendments to the Immigration Bill is happening TODAY in the House of Commons, and Holly is making a speech.
We, along with 3 of our EveryDoctor Doctor on Visa members, met with Holly last Friday to explain the discrimination faced by Doctors on Visas.
HERE’S THE EXCITING BIT:
Holly was shocked to hear that despite Boris Johnson’s announcement of a scrappage of the Immigration Health Surcharge for healthcare workers on 21st May, doctors are being charged just as before. Nothing has yet changed. We managed to confirm through another MP, Abena Oppong-Asare, that these individuals will be refunded. But the up-front cost is enormous, and there’s no info about when the refunds will come.
SO- Holly asked yesterday if she could speak to some doctors affected by this. She wanted to hear their experiences and input their information into her speech, which she’ll deliver this pm in the House of Commons.
We want her to lobby for indefinite leave to remain for all health and social care workers who worked during COVID, exemption of all healthcare worker dependents from the IHS, and to push for a points-based system in the proposed ‘NHS Passport’ which makes it much easier for doctors to move and start working in the UK.
We had less than 24 hours to arrange this Parliamentary meeting, which is a big ask. But we’ve pulled it off! We are enormously grateful to the 3 Doctors on Visas who have paid the IHS for themselves and their families who have agreed to meet with Holly at 10.30am to illustrate their experiences. This is extremely powerful and will make a huge impact.
I’m not going to lie, the EveryDoctor team are a LITTLE bit tired this morning. You may see the coffee cup lurking out of shot. It’s my third and it’s only 10am. Needs must