“I have been working at pace in recent weeks to accelerate contingency plans, to look at specific drivers such as the significant increase in our international recruitment,” he said. “We don’t want people lingering in the ward – that’s a bad outcome. “A big part of my focus has been to give a lot more ministerial time to look at the issues around late discharge, social care uptake. If there is pressure on the system and that requires more beds in the community, those beds need the workforce to go with them.” The government has lifted the cap on healthcare visas and figures show 75,963 were granted in the 12 months to March, compared with 14,016 a year earlier. India was the biggest provider of workers to the industry last year, with 32,476 moving to Britain, followed by Nigeria with 11,102 and the Philippines with 9,510. To obtain a visa, foreign staff must demonstrate that they have a sufficient level of English and have a job offer from a recognized employer with a salary of at least £20,480. Predictions by civil servants that just six in 10 patients will be treated in A&E departments within four hours this winter, revealed at the weekend, suggest the health service in England is set to miss its mandatory waiting time target by a record margin. . Mr Barclay acknowledged that A&E was “a very difficult landscape at the moment”, adding that he was working on a “pharmacy first model” to ease pressure on hospitals. Lord Victor Adebowale, the chairman of the NHS Confederation, warned last week that the service faces a winter crisis unless “immediate action” is taken to tackle social care workforce shortages.
