A NUMBER of nursing homes in the Vale of Glamorgan could be forced to close because of new UK Government rules, a social care chief has warned.

The controversial legislation will force non-European workers to return home if they are not earning at least £35,000 after six years - and that will include well-qualified nurses working in social care.

Mario Creft MBE, Chair of Care Forum Wales called the legislation "the daftest policy" he has heard in a long time.

According to Care Forum Wales, the body that represents the independent social care sector in Wales, it will lead to the loss of nursing home beds at a time when they are needed more than ever and could force some homes to close completely because of a shortage of trained staff.

Mario Kreft MBE, the Chair of Care Forum Wales, said: "Essentially, the Government will end up getting rid of well-qualified staff doing a good job and then replacing them with economic migrants without qualifications.

"This could very well lead to nursing homes being closed because of a shortage of qualified nurses.

“It could also lead to the sector having to pay higher fees for agency nurses and will almost certainly mean some care providers will have to stop offering nursing care.

"This is utter madness."

According to Mary Wimbury, the Senior Policy Advisor at Care Forum Wales, the new Home Office rules could push the Welsh care sector, which is already struggling to recruit enough nurses, “over the edge”.

She said: “The new rules will have a disastrous effect on the care sector in Wales, which employs many nurses from non-European countries, few of whom will be earning anything like the £35,000 threshold.

“The actual figure of those involved runs into hundreds of nurses who in turn care for many thousands of patients across Wales.

“Due to a reduction in the number of nurses being trained and an increase in numbers leaving the profession we already have a significant issue in terms of recruiting nurses to the care sector in Wales and this will only makes things worse.

“In short, it will mean that there won’t be enough nurses to go round."

Mr Kreft added: "We have already seen the effect these tighter immigration rules based on salary have had on recruiting carers from outside the EU. But with nurses the situation is more serious as you can only recruit people with the relevant qualifications to register as nurses and there just aren’t enough to go around."