Foreign doctors in Britain in danger of being made scapegoats

There are plans afoot by the Department of Health to change the rules for medical graduates from outside the European Economic Area who apply for specialist training posts next year.

A government consultation was initiated following a report which said thousands of UK doctors could not find jobs because of soaring foreign applicants.

It seems that as many as 16,000 of the 30,000 graduates chasing 20,000 jobs this year were foreigners.

However the BMA says that while medical immigration could and should be better controlled, the thousands of doctors and medical students from overseas who are already in the UK should not be penalised.

Dr. Terry John, chair of the BMA's International Committee, says in the long-term, the UK should be able to produce its own medical workforce and managing medical immigration in the future will be necessary.

Dr. John says the thousands of overseas junior doctors currently providing essential services in British hospitals must not be 'scapegoated' because of poor workforce planning on the part of the government, as they entered the country in good faith with the honest expectation of training opportunities in the National Health Service (NHS).

Dr. John says there is particular concern about overseas students currently spending large amounts of money to study at UK medical schools, which often entail huge personal and financial sacrifices.

The BMA says British-born medics should not be given training priority over foreign doctors already in the country.

The Department of Health says that 'most other countries give a priority to their own medical school graduates when appointing to specialist training posts.