Junior doctor numbers threatened by UK visas rules

June 25 2009 by Bryan Palmer

UK immigration: doctor shortage

According to a report in Wales’s Western Mail, there is a junior doctor shortage emerging in the country due to the tougher UK visa rules.

Under the new points-based system, qualified doctors who are from outside the European Economic Area (EEA), are not able to apply for a three-year Tier 1 visa unless they have a masters degree.

These doctors now must apply for a Tier 2 visa which only applies to each employer the person has. As a result some doctors are having to apply and pay £465 every time they move to a different NHS trust, which can be several times each year.

Even those trained in universities in the UK are feeling the impact of the stricter work visa rules and many are considering a move to Australia or New Zealand if the process continues to work against them.

Although the government says it will amend the new rules to enable some UK-trained junior doctors to renew their visas in time to start work in August, seniors in fields such as paediatrics and anaesthetics claims these measures will be too little too late and that the shortages are already being felt.

As a result, the NHS has offered jobs to foreign junior doctors who may not be able to gain UK work permit to do the jobs offered, leaving the NHS with a staffing problem.

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