Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of non-UK doctors not meeting the £55,000 salary threshold to qualify for Tier 2 visas on NHS staffing.

The Department does not hold information centrally on the number of medical practitioners who have been refused or potentially could be refused a Tier 2 (General) Certificate of Sponsorship.

The minimum requirements to access a Tier 2 (General) Visa remains at £30,000 for an experienced worker (and £20,800 for a graduate or person under 26). When applications for Tier 2 places exceed availability in any given month, occupations in shortage and PhD occupations obtain places first and then the remaining places are given to those earning higher salaries.

The Department is working with the Home Office to monitor the operation of the Tier 2 visa route to ensure it continues to attract the best and brightest migrants.

The Department continues to monitor and analyse overall staffing levels across the National Health Service and adult social care in addition to trust spending on agency staff. We work across government to ensure there will continue to be sufficient staff to deliver safe, high quality, efficient services on which patients rely.