York Hospital in 'vulnerable position' as Home Office wants nurse accommodation for asylum seekers

The hospital hires out rooms at two hotels in the city for its international nurses, but the Home Office has now block-booked the rooms to host those seeking asylum, according to Polly McMeekin, director of workforce and organisational development. Hospital bosses at York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust are now struggling to find appropriate alternative accommodation.

Recruiting nurses from abroad is a key part of the hospital’s workforce strategy due to a shortage of nurses within the UK. There were around 130 nursing vacancies across the trust in September, though hospital bosses hope this will reduce to around 50 by December.

The trust pays for overseas nurses’ accommodation while they undertake the exams necessary to allow them to work in the UK. There are 82 foreign nurses in one York hotel, with 17 more set to arrive in December. It was revealed last month that City of York Council had been chosen by the Government – along with other cities – to host families and couples needing support and accommodation.

Ms McMeekin told a hospital board meeting that they had initially been given just four weeks’ notice to vacate two city centre hotels as the Home Office wanted to use them for “the next couple of years”, but said they had pushed back on this and were then given until December.

The Yorkshire Post is choosing not to name the hotels due to concerns about the potential impact on vulnerable people staying there.

Ms McMeekin said: “York has a dearth of accommodation. [This] leaves us with no other accommodation – we’ve explored the military, we’ve explored universities. That would leave us in a very vulnerable position. This is a vulnerability in our international recruitment pipeline, which is obviously a significant element of the trust priority plan.”

A Home Office spokesperson said: “The claim that we have given notice to nurses to leave their accommodation is untrue. We are working with the local authority to source appropriate accommodation for asylum seekers and to mitigate the impact on the community, like the NHS trust.”

While the council and other organisations in the city have stressed that they will welcome the asylum seekers and provide support, there has been criticism of the way the government has handled the process.

Coun Darryl Smalley, executive member for communities, said previously: “Whilst hotels are better than tents, we have very serious concerns over the Home Office’s increased use of hotels to house asylum seekers. This is a short-term solution and an incredibly costly and failed strategy. York’s recent experience of the Home Office using a local hotel to house asylum seekers is the clearest evidence that we need a better, more integrated and humane approach.”

The Mercure York Fairfield Manor Hotel sheltered 90 asylum seekers in 2020-2021. During that time, anti-immigration protesters stormed the hotel and filmed asylum seekers. A council report published afterwards was critical of some elements of the support provided by Mecure and Mears group, the Government’s contractor which supports asylum seekers. The Home Office has been contacted for comment.

The Home Office spokesperson added: “The use of hotels to house asylum seekers is unacceptable – there are currently more than 37,000 asylum seekers in hotels costing the UK taxpayer £5.6million a day.”

Anyone wishing to offer their support can visit www.justgiving.com/refugeeactionyork to donate money. Refugee Action York’s website will be updated with more information on any collections or appeals once the guests’ needs are known.