Responding to the Home Office announcement that there will be free visa extensions for healthcare workers, the director of policy and strategy at NHS Providers, Miriam Deakin said:

"After an extremely difficult year, we are pleased to see that the international workforce's significant contribution to the NHS is once again recognised through free visa extensions.

"The last thing frontline workers, who have put so much on the line to care for us, need to worry about is renewing theirs or their family's visas, while facing burnout and still under significant challenges at work.

"But the decision to not recognise social care staff in the same way is disappointing. Social care staff have also been at the frontline of the response to the pandemic, working alongside the NHS to look after us.

"We urge the Home Office to reconsider this decision."