The UK health tax hurting foreign nurses

When a Kenyan nurse took up a job in the UK a few years ago, he felt his family's future had been secured.

But now the distraught father-of-three is struggling financially to reunite his family.

Ken, not his real name, lives with his wife and daughter.

But his twin children, a boy and a girl, remain in Kenya where they live with relatives.

That's because Ken is unable to raise enough money to cover a British health tax, known as the immigration health surcharge (IHS).

'Struggling to stay afloat'

Migrant workers coming to the UK from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) and their dependents have to a pay an annual fee of £200 ($268) each.

Ken is also required to have £2,185 in his account for three months before he can apply to bring his twins into the country - on top of the £400 he will need for their health tax.

"It's very difficult to explain to them when they ask me when they will join me here.

"Ideally, every parent would love to be with all their children."

Top five nationalities of non-EEA NHS staff in England

1. Indian - 18,348
2. Filipino- 15,391
3. Nigerian - 5,405
4. Zimbabwean - 3,899
5. Pakistani - 3,375

One in eight National Health Service (NHS) England staff are not British nationals, and people from a total of 201 foreign nationalities work for NHS England.

Source: House of Commons Library

The time difference and the nature of his job also make it difficult for him to give the twins the attention they need.

"Sometimes when you're at work, they call and you cannot speak with them as you'd love to, since you're really busy," he says.

The health surcharge was introduced in 2015 to boost funding for the National Health Service (NHS) and as a way to discourage health tourism.

Later this year, the annual charge is to be doubled from £200 to £400, with the discounted rate for students set to increase from £150 to £300.

A double tax?

A Home Office spokesperson reiterated that the government was aware of the "contribution" made by international professionals "to the UK and to our health service".

But it said the surcharge offered access to healthcare that was "far more comprehensive and at a much lower cost than many other countries".

"The income generated goes directly to NHS services, helping to protect and sustain our world-class healthcare system for everyone who uses it," the spokesperson said.