The UK government announced on Friday that it will relax immigration rules on care workers to tackle acute staff shortages in the social care sector. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said it will make temporary changes to the health and care visa to make social care workers, care assistants, and home care workers eligible for a 12-month period. Health Secretary Sajid Javid said the measure would help to “ensure short-term sustainability” for the social care sector. The decision follows the recommendation from the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to add care workers and home carers to the Shortage Occupation List, which is designed to help foreign workers get work visas to fill jobs where there are shortages. The MAC said in mid-December that the end of freedom of movement following Brexit had reduced the supply of EU workers, and visa rules should be relaxed “immediately” to temper “severe …