There are still 58 people in Manchester’s NHS facing deportation threat over £63

‘No one needs to be left behind’

18:43, 29 Jan 2026

The departure of migrant workers, along with their families, who have propped up the system could wreak havoc on an NHS trying to cut waiting lists – especially in Manchester(Image: KBP)

There are still 58 people in Manchester hospitals alone that could face deportation over a ‘£1-a-week change’.

Changes to UK immigration rules last year saw an increase in the minimum annual salary threshold of ‘skilled work’ jobs, which allow for sponsorship of migrant workers, to £25,000. However, this is higher than the salaries of NHS ‘band three’ staff – which include jobs such as emergency care assistants and dental nurses and assistants.

It means some NHS staff members and their families now face the prospect of deportation, with the Manchester Evening News previously reporting the difference in the highest figure a band three worker can earn and the new £25,000 threshold is just £63-a-year.

And the departure of migrant workers who have propped up the system could wreak havoc on an NHS trying to cut waiting lists – especially in Manchester, host to the country’s largest NHS organisation and hospital trust.

Demonstrators spoke out in a board meeting yesterday (January 28) of Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT), which runs all of the Manchester hospitals, including Manchester Royal Infirmary, Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, Trafford General Hospital, North Manchester General, and Wythenshawe Hospital. Protesters demanded any workers for the trust whose status has not yet been secured are ‘not left behind – by any means necessary’.

“You can do it for them, no one needs to be left behind, and we expect this authority to do everything immediately to make sure every one of those migrant workers are secured in their jobs,” the demonstrators said. “They are members of our community, they are essential workers. You have a duty of care.”

Band three workers include emergency care assistants, dental nurses and assistants, maternity support workers, and senior healthcare support workers who cover tasks like monitoring blood pressure, checking blood glucose levels, and wound dressings.

Meera Nair, the trust’s chief people officer, responded in the meeting: “This is a really difficult set of circumstances, highly sensitive, really emotional for all the affected staff.

“Our health care support workers are a really vital and valued part of our workforce. They are absolutely significant in the quality of care that we provide. They’re directly in contact with our patients. And so, the work they do is fundamental and really pivotal, and central to the work that we do in the hospitals. It’s of real significance to us.

“The reason I say that is because that means the changes to the immigration rules are of huge significance to all of us as leaders across the organisation, and managers, staff, and colleagues working in wards across the organisation impacted by this. And, of course, it’s important to recognise that it’s also the reason why, as a board, leaders across the trust, and our immigration, have been supporting many of these colleagues since July of last year.

“It’s quite natural that they are distressed, it’s completely understandable, I would be too if I was in that position. And it’s important that as this continues, managers, colleagues, and leaders are supported.

“These are not changes that MFT has introduced. These are changes which are the result of national changes to immigration rules that came between April and July of 2025.

“At the time, we had 180 staff who were affected by these changes. None of these staff had been sponsored by the trust. They were all individuals who had been recruited in the UK, were already residents of the UK, and had the right to work already existing in the UK.

“The majority of them, probably around 130 or so, were healthcare support workers. Others were in clinical support and other administrative kinds of roles, with visas that were expiring, at that time, over the course of about 12 to 18 months.”

The trust gave the latest update on the 180 staff who had been affected, adding the position ‘might change again later today, it might change again next week. It just changes on a day-by-day basis’.

Manchester Royal Infirmary(Image: Sean Hansford | Manchester Evening News)

Ms Nair continued: “From the original 180, many staff have obtained indefinite leave to remain, so they are now able to stay permanently, which means they have received settlement rights. Some have got extended visas through their family members in exactly the same way they originally obtained their right to work. So where they would be on a dependent visa, they have had an extension to that so they are no longer at risk.

“At present, we have 23 members of staff who have made their applications to UKVI (UK Visa and Immigration), and as long as those applications are being considered, they can continue to have the right to work. So we’re hopeful that those will come through, the typical time that it takes for the UKVI to respond can be any time from eight weeks to six months.

“And we have 58 that are still in process, and that could be because their visas are going to expire in 12 months time so there’s more time before it actually comes to that.

“Three people so far have had their employment terminated, sadly, it’s really, really tragic. 16 individuals have left the organisation – a combination of people going to other jobs, further study and onto study visas. As far as we understand, they are all still in the UK.”

Ms Nair listed the different measures the trust has been taking to shore up their threatened workforce, saying senior leaders have been ‘working very, very proactively at various levels’, including speaking to NHS Employers, UKVI, and NHS England.