World Bulletin / News Desk

Britain said Thursday it is easing visa rules to address a shortage of doctors and also encourage tech entrepreneurs as it prepares a new post-EU  immigration system, an issue that drove the Brexit vote.

May introduced the cap in 2010 when she was interior minister but has faced growing demands from the healthcare sector to review it due to a shortage of staff that has left hundreds of NHS posts unfilled.

The annual limit of 20,700 on all non-EU skilled workers, broken down into monthly quotas, has been breached every month since December.

The British Medical Journal says this has led to more than 1,500 doctors with job offers being refused visas in recent months.

Many fear the shortages will only become worse when Britain leaves the European Union and the bloc's citizens lose their automatic right to work in the UK. 

EU nationals currently make up almost 10 percent of doctors and seven percent of nurses, according to a parliamentary report.

May has promised to end EU freedom of movement after Brexit, but she has yet to publish her plans for a new immigration system.

She wants migration controlled but says Britain should also attract the "best and the brightest" from around the world. 

To that effect, on Wednesday the government announced a new "start-up" visa for technology entrepreneurs, which will replace a visa route that was previously only open to graduates.