No more Indian docs in UK’s NHS

Doctors from India, South Africa and other Commonwealth countries won’t be allowed any more into Britain’s National Health Service. The move is being seen as an attempt to preserve health service jobs for British graduates.

The Home Office has announced new immigration rules under which doctors living outside the European Union will not be eligible to apply for posts through the Highly Skilled Migrants Programme — hitherto an open door for migrants with the right qualifications.

The doctors, however, will still be able to come and work in UK in non-training jobs. The problem is that even if they got a job, they would not be able to advance their careers — the new rules don’t permit them to join post-graduate training posts.

Under the new rules, from April 1, the door will be closed to migrants who are applying under a new points system. Tier 1 migrants — those with the highest qualifications — will be barred from applying for higher posts.

But non-EU doctors already in Britain, of which around 10,000 are from India, can still apply for NHS.