Britain said Thursday it is easing visa rules to address a shortage of doctors and also encourage tech entrepreneurs as it prepares a new post-EU immigration system, an issue that drove the Brexit vote. Prime Minister Theresa May's government said doctors and nurses working in the state-run National Health Service (NHS) would be excluded from an annual cap on skilled workers from outside the European Union. May introduced the cap in 2010 when she was interior minister but has faced growing demands from the healthcare sector to review it due to a shortage of staff that has left hundreds of NHS posts unfilled.
The annual limit of 20,700 on all non-EU skilled workers, broken down into monthly quotas, has been breached every month since December. The British Medical Journal says this has led to more than 1,500 doctors with job offers being refused visas in recent months.