Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Frontline migrant workers forced to pay NHS charge will be refunded, Prime Minister pledges

Prime Minister Boris Johnson
Prime Minister Boris Johnson

Boris Johnson has announced that all migrant NHS and social care workers who have had to pay a surcharge to use the health service will be refunded.

The prime minister said those who had paid the charge “since May 21 will be refunded”, amid warnings from doctors’ groups that some staff are still being billed despite a previous commitment to scrap the policy.

The comment came after Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer told MPs “nothing has happened” in the month since Mr Johnson announced the surcharge would be dropped.

The policy sees workers coming to the UK from outside the European Economic Area asked to pay £400 towards the NHS.

Sir Keir highlighted the case of one doctor who has paid £6,000 to cover his wife, four children and himself.

He said: “These are people on the front line. The prime minister said he would act. When is he going to do so?”

Labour leader Keir Starmer.

Mr Johnson replied: “It is vital people who are working on the front line and NHS workers in particular get the support they need.

“That’s why I said what I said a few weeks ago and what I can tell him is: NHS or care workers who have paid the surcharge since May 21 will be refunded and we’re getting on with instituting the new arrangements as fast as we possibly can.”

Mr Johnson also committed to looking at a proposal to increase the child element of Universal Credit, after concerns were raised by SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford.

SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford.

Mr Blackford said: “An extra £20 a week in social security support would prevent millions of families from having to make the choice of paying their bills or feeding their children.

“Will the prime minister now immediately uplift the child element of Universal Credit and child tax credit by £20 per week?”

Mr Johnson responded: “This is a Government that has done everything that we possibly can so far to help families in need to make sure that nobody is penalised for doing the right thing during the crisis because I know how difficult it has been.

“That’s why we up-rated Universal Credit by £1,044, benefiting, I think, four million families in this country.

“But, we are fully aware that there will be tough times ahead and we do stand by to do more where we can.”