Doctors to require work permit to work in UK

London, Mar 8 (UNI) Doctors from India or any non-European Union countries wishing to work in the United Kingdom will be required to have a work permit from July, according to Health Minister of the nation Lord Warner.

At present, 117,036 overseas doctors are working in the National Health Service (NHS), an increase of 27,417 since 1997, of whom almost 33 per cent are from Asia. Out of these 16000 are of Indian-origin and nearly 4000 are the second generation.

The new directive means that any NHS trust (National Health Service) wishing to employ a doctor from outside the EU will now have to prove that a 'home-grown' doctor cannot fill the vacant post, ending the current permit-free training arrangement for international doctors.

Lord Warner said, ''We now have more than 117,000 doctors working in the NHS, as well as record levels of doctors undergoing trainingin UK medical schools. This investment and expansion, coupled with the reform of medical education, is leading to increased competition for medical posts as vacancy rates fall''.

He said, ''This is to ensure that we are only recruiting doctors where we have a genuine skills shortage. NHS Trusts will be required to get a work permit for every doctor that they wish to employ from outside the EU''.

Lord Warner however recognised that international doctors had made a huge contribution to the NHS since its inception in 1948 and added that there would still be opportunities for overseas staff to come to the country.

''We will continue to need small numbers of specialist doctors, who can bring their skills and experience to the trust. However, increasingly the NHS will be less reliant on international medical recruitment." The changes will come into force shortly when the NHS will only be able to recruit internationally when they cannot fill a training post with a UK graduate. The only exception will be to allow two years of permit-free training for non-European Union nationals who have trained in a UK medical school so that they can acquire full registration with the General Medical Council.

Any doctor wishing to apply for postgraduate medical education training in the UK, whether at the Modernising Medical Careers foundation programme level or senior house officer stage, will be required to have a work permit.

Currently International Medical Graduates (IMGs) are able to undertake postgraduate medical education in the UK without needing a work permit.

According to Dr Shiv Pande, who has been espousing the cause of jobless doctors in London, over 800 (64 per cent from South India) are living in misery. A survey revealed that about 120 across Britain even take up jobs as waiters and store attendants and queue up for free meals at temples and gurdwaras.

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