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NHS and care workers from overseas will be exempt from NHS surcharge after fierce criticism

The government will remove NHS and care workers from the NHS surcharge 'as soon as possible'.

A row erupted over raising the charge for non-EU people working in the NHS or the care sector from £400 to £624.

Today Prime Minister Boris Johnson has asked the Home Office and the Department for Health and Social Care to remove the surcharge.

A No. 10 spokesperson said: "As the PM said in the House of Commons, he has been thinking about this a great deal. He has been a personal beneficiary of carers from abroad."

The government faced criticism for the policy after one of the nurses who looked after Mr. Johnson when he was in intensive care with coronavirus would have been subject to the surcharge.

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