'Overseas recruitment ban puts care services at risk'
BBCRestrictions on the recruitment of overseas carers could lead to "the collapse of the NHS and adult social care" in a county, according to the Chief Executive of the Oxfordshire Association of Care Providers.
Eddy McDowall said a ban on employing staff from abroad, alongside changes to the existing system, could mean "hospitals are unable to discharge people back into their own homes" and lead to delays to "care in the community".
About 50% of home care in Oxfordshire is delivered by overseas carers.
The Department for Health and Social Care said change was needed as overseas recruitment for care workers had reached "unacceptable levels of abuse and exploitation".
Overseas care staff offer support to people living in their own homes as well as in care homes.
A ban on recruiting new carers from outside the UK has been in force since July 2025 and for people already working in the system, some sponsorships have been withdrawn.
Muhammad Laique came to the UK from Pakistan to study in 2022, when he was offered his first role in care and realised it was something he wanted to do for the rest of his life.
"It's not about the pay, it's the satisfaction you get when you support someone," he said.
Laique was sponsored by a care organisation, allowing him to take up a full time role and bring his wife and baby daughter to the UK with him.
But increased regulations from the Home Office meant his care group had to hand back their sponsorship license, leaving him in limbo.
"Our company decided they couldn't keep up with the compliance any more so they decided to surrender their license to the home office. 15 to 20 staff all lost their job on the same day," he said.
A spokesperson for the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) said increased regulations are designed to protect overseas care workers from being exploited, adding "we make no apology for getting migration under control, and under this government net migration is down by nearly 70%."
But according to Tim Bearder, Oxfordshire County Council's cabinet member for adult social care, the changes "will not reduce demand for care - they will reduce the number of carers available to deliver it".
Bearder has written to the Minister of State for Care, Stephen Kinnock MP, saying the plans would risk "destabilising an already fragile system".
He highlighted more unstaffed care home beds, a greater reliance on agency staffing at higher cost and increased pressure on NHS services due to delayed hospital discharges.
The DHSC said it was now focusing on plans "to boost domestic recruitment and retention", by implementing a Fair Pay Agreement for care workers, "helping end the reliance on overseas labour".
