‘Appalled’ MP urges Government to reconsider visa decision of Canadian frontline worker
A Canadian health worker who has cared for dying Covid-19 patients and their families has been told her visa to stay in the UK will not be extended, her MP has said.
Kim Stewart has worked in intensive care at Middlesbrough’s James Cook University Hospital since December, and on New Year’s Eve she tended to a patient in their 30s who had less than 24 hours to live.
Ms Stewart has also spent time with patients’ relatives, preparing them to say their final goodbyes before their loved one died from coronavirus in hospital.
The Covid support worker has also joined the vaccination rollout programme.
Middlesbrough Labour MP Andy McDonald (pictured) said Ms Stewart has been told she does not qualify for a one-year visa extension for frontline health workers.
“I am appalled that someone like Kim, who has worked tirelessly for our wonderful NHS, supporting many victims of Covid, is being treated so dismissively,” he said.
“How her work cannot be considered important enough to qualify for the visa extension is incomprehensible.
“The care and support she has given to patients and their families has been beyond measure.”
Mr McDonald has written to Health Secretary Matt Hancock and Home Secretary Priti Patel, asking them to reconsider.
He said: “Kim, and others who do similar jobs, deserve our utmost gratitude and they should have the right to continue doing that work on behalf of the NHS.”
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