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Junior doctors jobs go abroad (for second year running)
Last updated at 23:22pm on 06.01.08
Competition: British junior doctors will have to compete for jobs on equal terms with foreign medics
The decision means that three junior doctors - who each cost the taxpayer £250,000 to put through medical school - will be chasing every training post.
Last year, two were chasing each position.
Doctors' leaders blamed the Government for the situationand warned that thousands of young British medics will be forced to work abroad.
Doctors who miss out on a training post cannot become a GP or a specialist.
Critics say the increased competition from foreign doctors made a mockery of Gordon Brown's statement at the Labour conference in September that he wanted "British jobs for British workers".
The problem stems from a Court of Appeal ruling in November, when the British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin successfully challenged Department of Health guidance that foreign doctors could be considered for a training post only if there was no suitable graduate from Britain or the EU.
The ruling - which the Government is considering appealing against - means that 16,000 international doctors training in the UK have to be treated the same as British candidates applying for a post.
The situation has been exacerbated by a cut in the number of training posts from 15,600 to 9,000 due to changes introduced last year guaranteeing places to doctors who have already started their training, stopping the free-for-all which allowed medics to compete for posts which already had trainees in situ.
Doctors from outside the EU will account for half of all applicants this year.
But there has also been a sharp increase in the number of domestic doctors being trained, as three new medical schools have opened in the past decade.
The problems follow the chaotic introduction last year of an online application system for junior doctors, which left thousands without jobs. The system has now been scrapped.
Shadow Health Secretary Andrew Lansley blamed the Government for misjudging the number of doctors needed in the NHS.
He said: "For many years Britain has depended on overseas doctors coming to the UK for their training.
"Many of those who have been here for some time have a legitimate expectation that they can complete their training here.
"What is important is that we fulfil our obligations to them, but turn off the tap so that non-EU doctors are not continuing to overload our training opportunities.
"Unless the Government recognises the need for additional posts, we will see a new lost tribe of doctors who fail to complete training, even though many are well qualified."
Dr Chris McCullough, of doctors' pressure group Remedy UK, claimed some doctors faced a one-in-19 chance of securing a post.
He said: "With this level of competition and last year's fiasco, we have little confidence that the best doctors will be appointed."
Ram Moorthy, of the British Medical Association, added: "It can't be right that UK taxpayers fund many junior doctors who are then lost to the NHS."
A Department of Health spokeswoman said: "We know that for 2008 there will be many more applicants than there are training posts.
"This is not least because graduates from outside the EU will have the same right of access as UK graduates.
"We have tried to prioritise UK graduates but were prevented from doing so by the Court of Appeal ruling.
"We have been given leave to appeal against that decision and are investigating other means of giving preference to UK junior doctors."
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Fears: General surgeon Sarvi Banisar is considering a move to Australia after struggling to find a training place
'I fear we'll never find places' says a British medic
General surgeon Sarvi Banisadr is one of the British medics who may be forced to move abroad after struggling to find a training place since she qualified in 2006.
The 30-year-old from Dulwich, South London, said: "There are hundreds of junior surgeons waiting in London alone.
"The new system is so disorganised, we fear we may never get in. We have heard so many promises, 'Just stick with it, if you're good enough you'll get in', but after two years you start to lose heart.
"A few days ago I found out that there are no surgical jobs at all in the South East this time around.
"I'm thinking of moving to Australia but I don't want to - I've lived in Britain my whole life."
Reader views (13)
The reason for the whom mess is the government rather than the non EU doctors. The government was aware of the increase in the output from UK medical schools and competition from new EU states who wouldn’t need to take up any exams for registration. AT the same time, GMC continued to conduct PLAB exams not only in UK but also overseas to generate a steady income and the home office were generating revenues by giving HSMP visa.
And after realising that there aren’t enough training posts, they are trying to change the goalpost halfway through which is not fair at all.
Overseas doctors are not fighting about training post for new candidates. It’s about fair competition to those who are already in the system after investing time, money and effort similar to British trainees.
Unfortunately no one is ready to take up responsibility for the whole mess. Instead, if there was good communication between the various departments regarding the anticipated problems, this could have been avoided.
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- Suresh, Liverpool, 08/01/2008 15:48
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British doctors should not pay with their careers for the mistakes of the workforce planners who should be held to account for this mess. During the 2007 recruitment round, foreign doctors ran and registered themselves on the 'Skilled migrant Programme' to make it impossible for the Dept of Health to exclude them, hence the court ruling. The only way round this is a proper law to ptotect British graduates and ensure that 'British jobs go to British citizens' as the PM promised!
- Sam, London , UK, 06/01/2008 20:57
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The Nu Labor guys should do the decent thing and resign.
- Jacqueline, Hampstead, London, 06/01/2008 19:23
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Our Government have sown the seeds by allowing any country that is in the EU to have equal access to the job market in the UK, I think we are only 1 of 3 member states out of the new enlarged Union to do so. So when the UK Government are for self appointed reasons thinking of appealing the verdict of the Court of Appeal, I have little sympathy. Rightly the British Association of Indian physicians appealed against positive discrimination for UK born doctors... make your bed and lie in it. Only when power is given back to the electorate on matters of the upmost importance... Defence, Health and Education... will democracy be seen to be working. With today's technology it should be easy to have referendums on-line. Phrase a question with a yes or no answer and you may get 20 million for 3 million against instead of 150 for 95 against and the rest neutral in our out of touch lunch club.
- Colin Bond, London, 06/01/2008 19:06
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By petitioning the courts in the first place the British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin have shown that they are not British at all. What Britain would think it was right to force any countries citizens to seek employment abroad in order to employ those from outside. This inept Government must ensure that only British citizens are employed.
- Dave, Bristol, England, 06/01/2008 18:05
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I really don't understand this. There is a shortage of doctors countrywide. It's difficult to get a doctor appointment within 3 weeks unless it's an emergency and you queue up at the crack of dawn, so why not make more places available?
- M, Essex, 06/01/2008 16:15
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"British jobs for British workers", Gordon Brown, November 2007.
That'll be another blatant lie then. Perhaps Gordon Grim thought that we'd have forgotten that he said that by Christmas. Some hope!
- Keith Lonsdale, Doncaster, 06/01/2008 15:48
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Helen, it's no longer a country! Brits have to face up to the fact that the UK is now a de facto province of the EU. The EU. is the new country! The Lisbon Treaty (EU Constitution) will make the present de facto situation into a de jure one. Within countries such as the EU, all people from one province have full rights to apply for jobs within the other provinces. This is the way that it works in all federal states, such as the U.S., Canada and Australia, and is now the way it works in the new European Union federal state. And this is also the reason that there is no point in complaining about immigration. The EU border is what now governs immigration, not the UK border. The British people have had 40 years to riot against the successive British governments that have created this situation, but unfortunately have just been too docile and accepting (and trusting)!
- Phil Jones, London, UK, 06/01/2008 14:56
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The same should apply to all High Court and Court of Appeal judges. They must be made to compete for jobs on equal terms with foreign ones. The latter would have to bone up on English law - such as it is - but what's the betting we get some sensible non-PC non- 'uman rights decisions.
- Annabelle, London, 06/01/2008 14:41
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This is outrageous!
These people spend several years training to become a doctor, not to mention the financial costs and they should be considered first for employment here.
I have no problem with people working in countries other than where they were born/raised/trained but our doctors should not be forced out elsewhere.
Equal rights seem to shift in favour of non British people for fear of NON equality complaints.
What is happening to this country?
- Helen, Peterborough, UK, 06/01/2008 09:37
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Yet another shambles! Stop non EU doctors from being considered and follow this up with the awaited referendum on the EU being held.
- T J Franklin, BONCATH, WALES, 06/01/2008 08:40
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When bringing in doctors from overseas, it is necessary to check their credentials with great care, especially if they are coming from countries where it is common practice to cheat in exams or bribe examiners.
- Clarina, Sydney, Australia, 06/01/2008 01:34
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Canada is hard up for doctors, most communities in British Columbia are crying out for G P's, it is most difficult to get a G P to take any new patients.
- Tom Atkins, canada, 06/01/2008 01:07
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