Shrien Dewani: The Workforce We Must Not Take for Granted

By: Shrien Dewani

When Government discussions turn to reducing so-called “low-skilled migration,” it risks overlooking the very people it once urgently asked to keep our health and social care system afloat.

We invited these professionals here, welcomed them into our services, and depended on their expertise to protect those we care for.

Now, as the national narrative drifts away from that truth, leadership must bring the conversation back to what matters: recognition, respect and genuine gratitude for a workforce that has shaped the very foundation of our care system.

As the Country hears from its leadership in Government of the drive to “reduce low skilled” migration and continues to foster an air of ingratitude towards migrants in social care, I would like to do the opposite.

As a leader of a social care provider, Evolve Care Group, and a Director of Devon Care Home Collaborative, I would like to offer my personal and professional gratitude to all those who left their homes to come and fill our jobs in hospitals and care homes up and down the Country. 

The entire care system depends upon having people of the correct skills and values to ensure the individuals, that need the system, are supported to live safe, happy and fulfilled lives. The social care workforce is made up of professionals from diverse backgrounds with skills that are apparently unrecognised by society at large; by this Government. 

When our country could not fill the vacancies in hospitals and care homes, we turned to individuals from around the world to fill this gap; to keep our people safe. Without them arriving and taking these jobs, which were available despite being advertised to British people, many services would have closed, and people would have come to harm. 

The individuals that we had to run to recruit from overseas to fill our jobs, in the main, were Registered Nurses in their own countries. They have moved their lives across the world and learned new skills, to become integral parts of the teams they work in. Many of those individuals have displayed such growth that they quickly became supervisors, team leaders, and Registered Managers in services. 

Today, those same people are reading headlines that deliver anxiety provoking hints of changes to the social contract that was constructed between them and our country. We actively advertised in countries across the world for Health and Social Care professionals to join our teams in our services. We thanked them on arrival and relied upon them to make our services safe. 

To my team, all my team, across generations, backgrounds and cultures, I say a massive THANK YOU. I say a massive WELL DONE. You will not only always remain welcome, but you will also always have my gratitude, for we could not be where we are today without you, all of you.

Want more? Here’s another story: A Leadership View from Shrien Dewani