"Alarm over increase in migrant care workers facing exploitation,"

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has seen an eight-fold increase in concerns raised by migrant nursing staff who fear they are victims of exploitation within the social care sector.

In a letter to the home secretary, RCN general secretary and chief executive Professor Nicola Ranger said internationally recruited nursing staff were being failed by government inaction and urged officials to urgently launch a previously promised investigation into the issue.

Analysis of calls made to the RCN advice team showed that the number of calls from migrant social care nursing staff concerned they are being exploited has risen from 12 in 2020 to 110 in 2024.

The union said there were examples of employers using repayment clauses to demand tens of thousands of pounds from care workers if they try to leave their jobs – leaving ‘many trapped in appalling conditions’...

The union believes more protections are needed to enable staff to leave exploitative work and is urging government to create alternative models to the current visa process, which ties internationally recruited staff to their employer via sponsorship...