Royal College of Nursing: Forcing foreign nurses to leave 'deplorable'

Thousands of foreign nurses working in junior posts in the UK could be forced to return home under new immigration rules, union leaders have warned.

A new pay threshold for migrants means non-European workers will have to leave the UK after six years if they are not earning at least £35,000.

The Royal College of Nursing's general secretary Peter Carter said the suggested changes were a "truly deplorable state of affairs".

"We have this major shortage [of nurses] and we are recruiting overseas to fill that vacuum," he explained while speaking on BBC Breakfast.