[meenakshisekar]

Indian docs slam UK immigration rule

Hundreds of Indian doctors have been protesting here against new immigration rules on medical training, which leave them with the ignominious status of “illegal aliens” in the UK.

The protest was organized by the 25,000-strong British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (Bapio), which says at least 15,000 doctors may leave heavily in debt and without complete qualifications despite being encouraged to come to the UK.

But on Friday, Britain’s health minister, lord Warner, hit back at the criticism, saying the UK needed to give post-graduate training jobs to domestic medical students because medical graduation was “up by 70 per cent in the UK”.

He also dismissed Bapio’s complaint that immigration rules for doctors were changed “without warning and consultation”. Bapio told TOI on Friday that it was unfair that government had allowed, even encouraged Indian doctors to pay for—and sit—PLAB, the preliminary exam to enter Britain for further training.

Around 70 per cent of the so-called “international medical graduates” affected by the new rules come from the Indian subcontinent, a traditional recruiting ground for Britain’s state funded National Health Service (NHS).

Bapio president Ramesh Mehta said, “The new rule is unfair and leads to discrimination against doctors who have been the backbone of the NHS since its inception. And, 15,000 of those affected by the change are in the middle of their training.”

The figure is confirmed by the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI). Mehta said, “Many of them have children in school, many have bought houses. Suddenly, everything is gone.” Non-EU doctors will only get work permits if it can be shown they have specialist skills unavailable elsewhere.

But Warner insisted Britain’s General Medical Council had already “discouraged” PLAB applicants and the number of doctors sitting the exam was down to “40 per cent” and the dismal predicament of Indian doctors stranded here without a visa, work permit or job prospects was not the fault of the government.

“There’s been a 70 per cent increase in the number of medical school intakes over the last seven or eight years. We have to ensure there are postgraduate specialist training posts for our own UK graduates.”

The British Medical Association has also supported the Indian doctors. Edwin Borman, chairman of its International Committee, said, “These are doctors who have devoted a huge amount of talent, time, and energy to the NHS, and are now facing the prospect of enforced departure without any gratitude from the UK.”

The announcement had said that non-EU doctors would need a new work permit every time they applied for a job in Britain. Till now, there was the so-called visa-free permit training scheme for its estimated 20,000 doctors from non-EU countries.

[faraz]

This is hotnews for doctors.Seems the most preferred destination of doctors -UK is giving a new warning signal which is going to have dangerous consequences.