An University of Oxford researcher has said the UK "may become less attractive to care workers with family members".

Dr Ben Brindle, a researcher at the Migration Observatory at the university, was speaking as new figures show the number of people coming to the UK on a health and care visa is more than five times what it was when the route was introduced three years ago.

While 146,477 applicants were granted permission to come on this visa in 2023, when dependants were taken into account the figure rose to a total of 349,929.

This is up from 157,636 in 2022 and 63,291 in 2021.

Dr Brindle said: “The UK may become less attractive to care workers with family members.

“However, it’s also possible that employers will simply shift to hiring younger workers without families, or people who are willing to leave their families behind.

“In agriculture, the UK has been able to recruit tens of thousands of workers onto seasonal agricultural visas with less advantageous visa conditions.

“At the same time, care workers themselves will become more isolated if they come to the UK alone, and so may become more vulnerable to exploitation.”

In 2023 there were 203,452 dependants and 146,477 main applicants.

Suella Braverman, who was home secretary until November 2023, described the visa figures as “appalling”.

The Home Office, which published the statistics on Thursday, said the rise in health and care visas issued has been “largely driven” by care workers and home carers.