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nakram · Credits: 399 My Scrapbook

Wednesday 6 February 2008 14:08
Department of Health (National)

New immigration rules to restrict International Medical Graduates' access to UK post-graduate medical training

New immigration rules that will restrict international medical graduates' (IMGs) access to UK post-graduate medical training were today welcomed by the Health Secretary Alan Johnson.

The Home Office has laid immigration rules implementing the first part of the new Points Based System, which is the Tier 1 (General) route for highly skilled migrants. The rules impose a condition on Tier 1 (General) migrants and Highly Skilled Migrants prohibiting them from taking a post as a doctor in training.

The new rules take effect from 29th February. They will not impact on recruitment until 2009 and will prohibit the following people from accessing post-graduate medical training posts:

From February 29th

- Migrants from overseas who are applying to the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme (HSMP)

- Migrants already in the UK who are applying to switch to Tier 1 (General)

From April 1st

- Migrants in India who are applying for entry clearance as a Tier 1 (General) Migrant.

The following people will be exempt from the regulations:

- Those who currently have leave to remain in the UK as a Highly Skilled Migrant

- Postgraduate doctors or dentists who are seeking leave to remain as a Tier 1 (General) Migrant

The new immigration rules are expected to reduce the potential pool of new migrant applicants by between 3,000 to 5,000 in 2009.

These are temporary changes to the immigration rules. The Department of Health is considering longer-term solutions that will ensure the policy of self-sufficiency is achieved.

Because of the high numbers of potential IMG applicants that will be exempt from the Home Office regulations - currently estimated at around 10,000 - without further action on top of the new immigration rules the Department estimates around 700 to 1,100 UK doctors will be displaced and unable to secure a training place in 2009, 2010 and beyond.

Therefore, the Department is today beginning a consultation setting out proposals for managing applications to the foundation and specialty training programmes from Highly Skilled Migrant doctors with leave to remain in the UK. Our preferred option is to implement guidance stating that IMGs should be considered for post-graduate and specialty training posts in the NHS only if there are no suitable UK or European Economic Area (EEA) applicants.

The Department consulted on issuing this guidance for specialty recruitment in both 2007 and 2008. The Court of Appeal ruled that this guidance was unlawful. However, the House of Lords is hearing the Department's appeal on February 28th and we expect a decision in May. If the Department's appeal is successful, the guidance could be implemented in time for the next round of recruitment on June 1st.

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. Ultimately, the NHS loses the trained GPs and consultants it needs when IMGs leave.

Alan Johnson said:

"Doctors from overseas have played an invaluable role in the NHS for many years and will continue to do so. They have helped us fill key shortage areas such as Psychiatry , obstetrics and Gynaecology , and Paediatrics . But 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. 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.

"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."

Notes to editors

1. The Department of Health's consultation paper on International Medical Graduates is available via the MMC website at

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The consultation will end on May 6th.

2. Tier 1 (General) of the Points-Based system is coming into effect in India on 1 April and will be rolled out worldwide by the end of the summer. It will be replacing the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme. By placing a condition on new migrants in the HSMP from February 29th we are ensuring that IMGs from India are not being disadvantaged.

3. Increased investment in medical training since 1997 means that the NHS no longer relies so heavily upon doctors from outside Europe. We now have four new medical schools and medical school places in England have increased from 3,749 in 1997 to 6,451 in 2007.

4. In the 2007 specialty recruitment, there were nearly 28,000 applicants for around 15,500 training places in England, a ratio of 2:1. Around 45% of applicants had trained outside the EEA.

5. It is estimated that at the end of the recruitment in 2007, over 1,300 applicants from UK medical schools had not secured a training place in 2007 because of competition from applicants who trained outside the EEA. We expect a similar number to be affected this year. This does not mean that they cannot work as doctors as there are other employment opportunities for UK medical graduates in the NHS. It does, however, mean that they were not able to progress their careers in a training place.

6. The forecast for 2008 is that competition will be even higher than in 2007, with a forecast competition ratio of 3:1. Over half of applicants are likely to have trained outside the EEA.

7. Tier 1 (General) of the Points-Based system is coming into effect in India on 1 April and will be rolled out worldwide by the end of the summer. It will be replacing the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme. By placing a condition on new migrants in the HSMP from February 29th we are ensuring that IMGs from India are not being disadvantaged.

[ENDS]

Richmond House 79 Whitehall London SW1A 2NS Telephone: (Dept of Health)

drimuwithash · Credits: 3753 My Scrapbook

I am MBBS from india & applied in uk for 2 yr PG course in university of buckingham. What should I do ? Shall i go ?

maria210503 · Credits: 5993 My Scrapbook My Reading List 4 Books

i am worried too.what will hapen??
no body knows for sure what is going on.

niceman4ever · Credits: 1209 My Scrapbook

Maria ..what happened to you? have you been allocated to Foundation School ? F1 ? or you are actually working right now? have you taken the clinical assessment?

maria210503 · Credits: 5993 My Scrapbook My Reading List 4 Books

hi ,
i am not working.allocated to first preferred foundation school.
long case is passed .donot know about short cases, made mess with these.

maria210503 · Credits: 5993 My Scrapbook My Reading List 4 Books

sorry to read about you niceman.
what was your case?what happened.

i read this just wanted to share...Training rotas struggle with vacancies
Hospitals are having problems filling vacancies in training posts - because of the "inflexibility" of MMC, it was reported last night.
As doctors leave training posts, hospitals are finding they cannot replace them, according to Channel Four News.

The report mentions cardiology at University Hospital of North Durham where four doctors have left an on-call rota, leaving six to cover a ten post rota.

The programme contact 30 hospitals and found ten that reported increasing numbers of vacancies.

Some hospitals said they were filling the posts with locums but had trouble making permanent appointments.

The report says the problem is being aggravated by new restrictions on overseas doctors coming to Britain.

Ram Moorthy, chairman of the BMA junior doctors committee, said: "Rotas are operating below full strength across the country.

"Junior doctors are being pressured to work extra hours, often unpaid, to fill the gaps, and consultants are taking on additional workload.

"If the problem gets worse there will ultimately be an impact on patient services, with longer waits for operations and hospital appointments."

A spokeswoman for the Department of Health said: "We know there is some anecdotal evidence of these problems around middle-grade junior doctors.

"However, while we are keeping a careful eye on it, there is no evidence that such problems are widespread.

"Trusts do sometimes have problems in finding locums for highly specialised roles, but are very experienced in handling them so that there is no effect on patient care."

Andrew Thornley, a cardiology registrar in Durham, said: "We started to lose doctors around the beginning of November but it's coming to a crunch now. We are going to be really short.

"Over the Christmas period we actually volunteered to come in to fill in for the gaps in the rota.

"It means a lot of extra pressure, and not being able to spend as much time on the wards as we need to. It's going to get worse, up until August - when new people will finally come in."

niceman4ever · Credits: 1209 My Scrapbook

Hi Maria ..congratulations ..I am sure you will be alright ..short cases not a big deal ..if you passed long case you are sorted ...I was not told exactly what was not good ..but i think it was not fair assessment at all..what day did you take yours?

maria210503 · Credits: 5993 My Scrapbook My Reading List 4 Books

it is true it was not a fair assessment i wrote the same in evaluation form .we were not guided before properly about what to expect.
i passed on 12th.

DRQaleem · Credits: 120 My Scrapbook

wt about the british nationals.....IMG,s i mean ....the british nationakls who r IMG,s

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