A UK-based reporter from Kerala went undercover as a care assistant in a care home for the elderly in north-east England and uncovered alarming levels of exploitation of staff, particularly those recruited from overseas, including India. Balakrishnan Balagopal’s investigation for BBC Panorama revealed that carers were being charged exorbitant fees by an Indian recruitment agency, while nurses were tied into long contracts with care homes that imposed financial penalties for attempts to leave the job.
Statistics from the past year show that 140,000 visas were granted to overseas workers in the health and care industry in the UK, with 39,000 of them going to individuals from India. Balagopal described the experiences he discovered as a narrative of exploitation, debt, separation from family, and the constant fear of making mistakes. He emphasized that the pursuit of a permanent visa severely impacted the quality of care provided, leaving caregivers entangled in a web of instability.
Nurses and care workers from overseas who are eligible for a skilled worker visa must be sponsored by an employer. Although they technically have the ability to switch jobs, this can only be done within a limited timeframe, giving employers a significant hold over them and enabling exploitative practices.
The revelations in the BBC Panorama investigation come shortly after the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC), an independent body advising the UK government on immigration, highlighted exploitation within the social care sector in its recent annual report. The MAC report stated that underfunding and low pay contribute to the exploitation of workers in the social care sector, with those on the Health & Care Worker (H&CW) visa being particularly vulnerable due to their residency rights being directly tied to their employers.
To address this issue, the MAC recommended that the government provide greater support for migrants entering employment in the care sector and create a dedicated portal for job vacancies, allowing workers to switch employers. Additionally, it called for higher wages across the sector to reduce reliance on lower-paid migrant workers.
However, despite these concerns, the UK government recently announced that care workers on a visa will be prohibited from bringing close family members as dependents from next year. This decision has been criticized as extremely unfair by the British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (BAPIO), the leading representative body for doctors and nurses of Indian origin in the UK. They argue that being separated from their families significantly hampers the ability of care workers to provide satisfactory and high-quality care.
The exploitation of care workers, particularly those from overseas, remains a pressing issue in the UK. As the government considers the recommendations put forth by the MAC, the need for comprehensive measures to protect the rights and well-being of these workers becomes increasingly apparent. By addressing underfunding, improving pay, and developing a more supportive framework, the UK can begin to rectify the exploitative practices within the social care sector and ensure the delivery of quality care to those in need.
