LONDON, Feb. 09, 2007
Col. Harbakash Singh
Since April ’06, nearly 5,000 doctors have
so far returned home after failing to find suitable job in Britain’s
National Health Service. It depends on the ongoing recruitment
process for 21,000 NHS jobs.
Even though the numbers mooted by the Deputy Chief
Medical Officer are a vast improvement, there will still be an
estimated 28,000 UK doctors applying for these posts. The 23,000
posts are a UK wide number (previous estimates of applicants were
based on numbers for England only) and so up to 5,000 doctors
currently in training could be sidelined into non-training posts.
More Indian doctors face the prospect of returning home after
the February 9 ruling. All attention is now focussed on the ongoing
recruitment process for 21,000 NHS jobs starting August 2007.
The returning doctors had passed the requisite tests
for employment in the NHS, but had failed to find jobs mainly
due to a larger pool of available doctors from within Britain
and the European Union and NHS budgetary cuts.
Dr.Ramesh Mehta, President-British Association of
Physicians of Indian Origin (BAPIO) said, "We have shown
great unity in coming together to fight the legal challenge against
the short sighted and callous change to permit free training.
We stood up to unfairness and injustice. This is a battle for
principle and we are proud of what we have done. We are all highly
disappointed by the verdict. But this is not the time to give
up. We will prove that our nerves are made of steel".
BAPIO has set up an appeal fund and requested all
well wishers and affected doctors to contribute generously to
this. The information on how to donate is available on www.bapioaction.moonfruit.com
. BAPIO Action estimates it is likely to cost over 100,000 pounds
to fight the appeal and have enough to pay costs in case of loss.
BAPIO was formed in 1996 in Bedford and was launched in 1998.
It has close links with the American Association of Physicians
of Indian Origin
The large number of unemployed Indian doctors in Britain was
the increased frequency of holding the mandatory qualifying test
called the Professional and Linguistic Assessment Board (PLAB)
test. Every Indian doctor needs to pass this test before being
registered for possible employment. Earlier this test used to
be held twice or thrice a year. Now it is held twice or thrice
a week. The success rate is also higher with the result that there
are now more doctors who have cleared the test. In 1998, nearly
1,000 passed the test but in 2005, the number increased to more
than 6500. One part of the PLAB test is held in centres in India
while another is held in London.
BAPIO had decided to file the appeal before March 2 and had
launched another fund-raising drive among Indian doctors to meet
legal costs.
What is MMC?
Modernising Medical Careers (MMC) aims to improve patient care
by delivering a modernised and focused career structure for doctors
through a major reform of postgraduate medical education. MMC
has created two-year foundation schools that will, for the first
time, require doctors to demonstrate their abilities and competence
against set standards.
Post-foundation, specialist/GP training will be streamlined to
deliver specialists judgement-safe and able to deliver the care
that is needed to treat patients, without compromising in any
way on standards.
Modernising Medical Careers is also a key enabler for other flagship
programmes in the Department of Health. It is focused on the development
of a flexible workforce of doctors, who are both competent at
dealing with the acutely ill and who are effective at communicating
with patients and colleagues alike.
Reader's Opinions:
- Sudden change in visa rules which effectively bars them completing
training in the NHS means hospitals must give first preference
to graduates from within the European Economic Area. This new
rule forced the doctors to leave the UK heavily in debt and
with no qualifications. Most of the dpctors completed their
graduate medical training in India but wanted to follow the
traditional path of many of their final training placements
in the UK.
- We agree that the government has defended the move, saying
it is protecting jobs for British graduates.
These doctors are allowed to sit the
PLAB exams in their country , passed and allowed to come here.
They were told that they would get equal opportunities to
compete along with other doctors in the UK, as so many doctors
from India have done all these years.
UK Govt. had been taking away their rights to seek work and
finish their training and have effectively destroyed their
life. It is also estimated that most of doctors had spent
more than £5,000- £7,000 for preparing for the
exams to gain the right to enter the UK, to writing countless
applications every day of the week for posts.
These doctors borrowed a lot of money back home because they
wanted to come here to get British qualifications before
going into practice back home.
