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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| New rules to limit non-EU doctors | New rules to limit non-EU doctors |
| (20 minutes later) | |
| Doctors resident outside the EU will no longer be able to apply for postgraduate training posts in the UK under new immigration rules. | Doctors resident outside the EU will no longer be able to apply for postgraduate training posts in the UK under new immigration rules. |
| The Home Office announcement follows sustained criticism from doctors' bodies that UK graduates are unable to find work due to the competition. | The Home Office announcement follows sustained criticism from doctors' bodies that UK graduates are unable to find work due to the competition. |
| The new rules will come into effect for the 2009 recruitment round. | The new rules will come into effect for the 2009 recruitment round. |
| In the past, the NHS has employed many foreign doctors because there were too few UK medical graduates. | In the past, the NHS has employed many foreign doctors because there were too few UK medical graduates. |
| But an expansion of medical school places redressed this shortage, leaving doctors fighting for places. | But an expansion of medical school places redressed this shortage, leaving doctors fighting for places. |
| The rules, which will not apply to those doctors already working in the NHS, will produce a drop of between 3,000 and 5,000 overseas applications next year, official estimates suggest. | The rules, which will not apply to those doctors already working in the NHS, will produce a drop of between 3,000 and 5,000 overseas applications next year, official estimates suggest. |
| This year it is thought there will be about will be around 9,000 places on speciality training programmes, and employers expect there may be as many as 23,000 applications. | This year it is thought there will be about will be around 9,000 places on speciality training programmes, and employers expect there may be as many as 23,000 applications. |
| Without a training post, a junior doctor cannot become a GP or consultant. | Without a training post, a junior doctor cannot become a GP or consultant. |
| Wasting money | Wasting money |
| Critics argue that it is a huge waste of taxpayers' money to spend some £250,000 on training each medical graduate and then being unable to provide them with a job. | Critics argue that it is a huge waste of taxpayers' money to spend some £250,000 on training each medical graduate and then being unable to provide them with a job. |
| Others suggest that such fierce competition for places among both foreign and UK candidates mean patients end up with the best possible doctor in the job. | |
| Health Secretary Alan Johnson said: "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. | Health Secretary Alan Johnson said: "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." | "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." |
| Separately, the government is currently appealing against a House of Lords ruling which stopped them giving priority to UK graduates over foreign doctors already here in the UK. | Separately, the government is currently appealing against a House of Lords ruling which stopped them giving priority to UK graduates over foreign doctors already here in the UK. |
| The British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (BAPIO), the organisation which challenged this guidance, said the new immigration ruling was the right decision but "very late". | |
| "We have been warning the government about this for many years. Of course we should be looking after local applicants first," said Dr Ramesh Mehta, BAPIO's president. | |
| "What's important is that those who are already here - who came here in good faith in different times - are not discriminated against." | |
| NHS Employers said it too welcomed the decision. | |
| "Employers will see this as a positive step in addressing the current oversupply of doctors," said director Steve Barnett. | "Employers will see this as a positive step in addressing the current oversupply of doctors," said director Steve Barnett. |
| "We have grown the graduate workforce in the UK and now need to maximise opportunities for UK and EEA graduates by giving them priority in the first few years of their postgraduate training." | "We have grown the graduate workforce in the UK and now need to maximise opportunities for UK and EEA graduates by giving them priority in the first few years of their postgraduate training." |