Home Office unaware how many migrant staff still paying NHS fee

The Home Office has said it is unaware of exactly how many foreign health and care workers are still paying the £400 NHS migrant surcharge despite Boris Johnson promising to scrap it more than a month ago.

More health staff have come forward to the Guardian to say they are being charged the fee that non-EU workers must pay to access healthcare and that they have not been offered refunds.

Johnson said the fee would be dropped on 21 May after significant political pressure to support medical and care staff working on the coronavirus response.

However in a response to a written question by Labour, the Home Office said the information on how many NHS and social care staff who have paid since that date was not easily available.

The shadow health minister, Justin Madders, said: “It was very welcome when, after considerable pressure, the government announced in May that the immigration health surcharge would be abolished, but we are still hearing reports of people being charged and it is extraordinary that ministers can’t or won’t say how many.

“It is simply not good enough that, six weeks on from its promise, the government has not resolved this issue, leaving NHS and social care staff hundreds or, in some cases, thousands of pounds out of pocket just for using the NHS themselves.”

The party is urging the government to publish the information as soon as possible.

A paediatrician from India, who has been working for the NHS since December 2019, paid £400 when she applied for her first visa, and was charged another £400 on 24 June when she switched to another hospital trust.

She said: “It is unfair on everybody who has already paid into the tax pool and I don’t understand the logic behind it … It is a financial strain, and for a doctor with a family it’s going to be detrimental.”

She said the surcharge system for migrant workers means people are often charged the fee twice if they change jobs, and therefore their sponsor, within a 12-month period. No refund has been offered by officials processing her visa, she said.

The Home Office response to Labour’s request for data on 2 July said: “This information is not readily available nor held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost due to the fact the IHS [immigration health surcharge] is payable across multiple application routes.”

The Guardian reported last month how a survey conducted by the Doctors Association UK showed 158 NHS workers reported having to continue to pay the charge. As of 3 July, campaign group EveryDoctor had heard from 61 people still having to pay it.

A government spokesperson said: “Any NHS or care workers that have paid the immigration health surcharge since the prime minister’s announcement on 21 May will receive a refund.”