Non-European doctors and change in UK policy

Editor—The decision by the Department of Health that all doctors from outside the European Union who wish to work in the United Kingdom will need a work permit smacks of opportunism.¹ For several years the job situation for overseas graduates has been appalling—in 2001, for my first job, I sent 150 applications. The advertised “shortage” of doctors—a shortage of consultants—has encouraged thousands of international graduates to take the Professional and Linguistic Assessments Board (PLAB) test. They arrive here, and it is only when they start looking for work that reality sets in. There have been calls for the General Medical Council to put a stop to the test until existing unemployed doctors are absorbed into the system and the inward flow stops—calls that the GMC has steadfastly ignored, as the test is obviously profitable.

I agree that no more overseas graduates should be allowed into the United Kingdom. However, the ones who are already here should be given a chance, and six months is too short. Of course, many UK trained graduates are out of work, but this is the result of bad workforce planning and not the fault of overseas doctors. What else do you expect when you open more places in medical schools at an alarming rate and introduce Modernising Medical Careers at the same time?

The recent legislation is symptomatic of the callous—institutionally prejudiced—nature of the establishment. If, in the future, the tables turn—and things are always changing in the NHS—and there is once again a need for overseas doctors, I doubt there will an enthusiastic response.

Overseas doctors have contributed to the NHS for years, and this is no way to treat them. I am disappointed the BMA is not campaigning against the ruling more vociferously.