Cultures of Immigration – The SIG Story

The word immigration is now associated with many media-managed ideas and images, and this matters at SIG because, away from headlines and social media, the reality is that the health and social care sector has always depended on migrant workers to fill essential roles, who have not only contributed to but also influenced this sector.

This remains the case; figures show that, in the year ending March 2023, most skilled worker visas issued in the UK were for health and social care workers. However, recent policy changes designed to reduce these figures are already having an impact: grants to main applicants for skilled worker visas fell by 38% in the year ending June 2025. Criminal justice leaders have already sounded the alarm about the impact of these visa changes on prison staffing levels.

Last year, the (then) home secretary, Yvette Cooper, stated that the government wants more UK workers to train and fill health and social care roles, implying that these roles are not skilled. However, anyone in contact with our sector knows that supporting the most vulnerable in society is, in fact, highly skilled! The application of drastic Visa policies risks devastating a key structural feature of our vital but hard-pressed sector.

Immigration is also a crucial cultural feature of the health and social care sector, and this is an invaluable contribution that shapes what care and support look like in practice. Migrant workers often bring cultural approaches to care rooted in collectivism that foster inclusive practice. Multicultural communities and practices across global cultures enable a sense of comfort and joy in diverse ways of being and expression. This translates particularly well to person-centred approaches to care and support.

For service users, the importance of individualised approaches to their needs and aspirations is only amplified by the impact of institutional stigmas and barriers they have experienced on their journeys seeking support from statutory systems across health, social care and the criminal justice system.

In our 2024 research report, SIG External Affairs shared that, in workshops with over 200 residents, participants, staff, and commissioners, 71% of those engaged stated that stigma, discrimination, and institutional barriers to accessing services were the most significant obstacles to recovery and re-enablement.

Challenging stigma can arguably be defined as the core purpose of the Care Act 2014, and creating diverse cultural environments in the health and social care sector is a powerful enabler towards making inclusivity the norm.

For this to be achieved, it must apply equally to the workforce. The demand on staff to deliver person-centred support while they are themselves experiencing intersectional challenges can be detrimental when they are also encountering institutionalised work environments.

Burnout, stress, and difficulty asserting employment rights are reported as structural problems within the migration-dependent workforce. Psychosocial approaches to address these challenges are vital as national economic output declines and complex needs amongst service users increase.

In the current political climate, the term ‘immigrant’ has been loaded with negative meaning that can induce a sense of stigma and shame, so SIG’s commitment to our Inclusivity Charter is deeply meaningful. Informed by SIG teams who have been shaping inclusive practice in their individual services, the Charter seeks to set an organisation-wide cultural standard of inclusivity and moving forward, it will inform policies and processes.

A popular political slogan in recent times, and one I can certainly quote happily, is “diversity is our strength”. In my role, I get to work across the length and breadth of SIG’s geography, and each locality has its own niche culture.

The inclusive ethos of our Luton teams, residents and participants has enriched my working practice, and I know it has impacted the local community, as one participant shared; they joined our transformative SIG Penrose Roots service thanks to a word-of-mouth recommendation by someone in a local park!

For SIG staff like me, bringing our global-majority relational approaches to work means recognising interdependence and enabling reciprocal growth. Nothing echoes this back to me better than the many residents and participants who tell me that SIG’s EDI programme has been transformative and empowering for them in developing a sense of citizenship in society, starting in our services.

The commitment, service and contributions of migrants to the UK deserve celebration, and our sector, shaped by immigrant cultures and reliant on our dedication, ought to be first in leading this approach.

We have begun at SIG, not least by reclaiming the rhetoric around immigration cultures.

The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Social Interest Group. Any content our bloggers or authors provide is their opinion and is written to promote discussion and raise awareness of topics.