NHS 'over-reliant' on overseas funding as health service 'lost £100m due to falling immigration'

The NHS has become "over-reliant" on its income from the immigration health surcharge (IHS), a new report has claimed.

Findings by the Nuffield Trust revealed the income from the IHS boomed tenfold between the years 2015-2016 and 2024-2025.

However, the £2.5billion contribution to the NHS budget from the surcharge dropped to £2.3billion last year.

The slump in funding is due to fewer foreign workers arriving in the UK and paying into the IHS, the Nuffield Trust concluded.

The trust also concluded that the rise in contributions required of those paying the surcharge has also impacted figures.

10 years ago, migrants paid £200 per year into the IHS, but the cost climbed to £1,035 in 2024, in line with the Department of Health’s estimates on how much they use the NHS.

The think tank estimates that those paying the fee are being charged 60 per cent more than they should be compared with what they use.

The Nuffield Trust report argued that IHS income has become a "significant source of annual funding uplifts received by the service", which have averaged 2.6 per cent in real-terms growth to the NHS budget in England.

The income from the surcharge has rocketed from accounting for just 0.1 per cent of the NHS budget to one per cent over the past decade.

Nuffield Trust fellow Stelios Vassiliou said the IHS had "grown to a prominence that cannot be ignored".

He told The Telegraph: "If the level of income from the charge was to fall back to that seen at its inception in 2015-16, the NHS would be left facing a shortfall in the billions, as it has grown reliant on immigrants in this group contributing substantially more to the NHS than they take out."

Mr Vassiliou warned that the findings should encourage the Government to investigate such funding of the NHS which has been "possibly overlooked".

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He cautioned: "Our analysis should give politicians pause for thought about this unforeseen, and possibly overlooked, consequence of changes to visa rules.

"The Government needs to think carefully about what it’s trying to achieve with the surcharge.

"We need clarity on whether this policy is about migrants paying their fair share, topping up NHS funding or discouraging migration in the first place."

In England, the NHS budget is around £205billion for the current year, while a further £42billion is awarded to the other devolved nations.

Announcing a further boost for the NHS, Prime Minister Andy Burnham has confirmed a £140million uplift to ease winter pressures on urgent care.

The funding will be invested into 14 new urgent care schemes from new treatment centres across the country and an upgrade to ambulance fleets.

Health Secretary Yvette Cooper said: "NHS staff worked incredibly hard to keep on top of the extra pressure this summer. Now we need to support them in delivering for patients through the winter season, so our NHS is there for all of us when we need it."

In a statement, a Department of Health and Social Care spokesman told GB News: "The Immigration Health Surcharge is an entirely fair system that means migrants who apply to enter or remain in the UK for more than six months pay the costs upfront for any NHS treatment they may end up needing while they are here."