Britain’s National Health Service, which provides free healthcare funded from general taxation and welfare contributions, is one of the world’s largest and most cosmopolitan employers.
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But the NHS — which listed 211 nationalities in England alone in 2020 — faces chronic staff shortages.
By 2029, the state-run service in England will face a shortfall of 108,000 nurses, according to the Health Foundation think-tank.
Now there are fears the crisis will further deepen due to a combination of shocks depleting its substantial foreign workforce: retirement, the coronavirus pandemic, Brexit and tougher immigration rules.
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Migration has long been a “stopgap solution” as Britain suffered “recurring crises” for 40 years, said Mark Dayan, policy analyst at the Nuffield Trust health think-tank