The BIR has supported a letter to the Home Secretary, Priti Patel, which seeks clarification on the specific professions included in the new NHS visa scheme, to be introduced now that the UK has left the European Union. The NHS visa, as stated in the Conservative Party manifesto for the December 2019 election, promises “overseas qualified doctors, nurses and allied health professionals with a job offer from the NHS, who have been trained to a recognised standard, and who have good working English, will be offered fast-track entry, reduced visa fees and dedicated support to come to the UK with their families.”
The letter welcomes the proposal, but seeks clarification that allied healthcare professionals within this visa scheme will include medical physicists, clinical and biomedical engineers as well as diagnostic and therapeutic radiographers.
The letter was sent by the Institute of Physicists and Engineering in Medicine (IPEM) with endorsement from the Royal College of Radiologists (RCR), the Society and College of Radiographers (SCoR),The Royal College of Physicians (RCP), The Academy of Healthcare Science and a range of other learned societies.
