Foreign docs restricted to UK
The clamp-down on foreign medics is aimed at increasing the number of training places for UK medical graduates
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Wednesday, 06, Feb 2008 03:33
International medical graduates will be prohibited from postgraduate medical training in the UK under new rules announced by the Home Office.
From February 29th foreign medics will not be able to apply for training posts.
Those exempt from the rules include people who currently have leave to remain in the UK as a highly skilled migrant and postgraduate doctors or dentists who are seeking leave to remain as a 'tier-one general migrant'.
The move is expected to ensure more training places for applicants from UK medical schools by reducing the pool of new migrant applicants by between 3,000 and 5,000 in 2009.
It is estimated that at the end of the 2007 recruitment process over 1,300 applicants from UK medical schools had not secured a training place because of competition from applicants who trained outside the European Economic Area (EEA).
A similar number are expected to be affected this year.
According to the Department of Health (DoH), most international medical graduates who come to work or train in the NHS do not stay very long - over half leave within four years of joining the NHS.
Commenting on the proposals, health secretary Alan Johnson said overseas doctors have played an "invaluable role in the NHS" but added that "as the number of UK medical school graduates expands, there should be less need to rely on overseas doctors for these specialties".
"It can cost up to £250,000 to train a UK medical student and, with the increase in UK medical schools, we are moving to a policy of self-sufficiency," Mr Johnson said.
"If UK medical graduates cannot access specialist training because of a large number of applicants from outside Europe, then it is only right that we should consider what needs to be done."
He added: "I cannot stress enough that we are not closing the door to international doctors working in the NHS.
"These new rules only apply to training places in the UK. International doctors will still be able to come and work in the NHS in thousands of other non-training posts and will still be able to fill training places in shortage specialties."
The rules are temporary and the DoH is considering longer-term solutions that will ensure the policy of self-sufficiency is achieved.