Click to play videoNew Delhi: Providing some respite to the Indian doctors, who have been facing a quit order after Britain's new immigration laws disenfranchised non-European economic migrants and the high court upheld the policy, the Department of Health has finally agreed to keep the new rules in abeyance for the next round of recruitment for training posts in the National Health Service (NHS).
The news came as Indian doctors were preparing to file an appeal against the February 9 high court ruling that had upheld the new immigration rules.
As per the latest guidelines, Indian and other non-European Union doctors who have "limited leave to enter/remain in the UK in immigration categories that allow them to work will be considered for short-listing in Round 1 if their leave is current at 1 August."
This means that the new immigration rules announced in March 2006, which were upheld by the high court February 9 have been kept in abeyance, and all doctors, irrespective of their country of origin, will now be treated equally during the forthcoming process of shortlisting applicants.
From January 22 to February 4, over 30,000 doctors applied for the 21,000 jobs with the NHS, the biggest employer of medicos, and about 12,000 applicants are Indians. A shortlist of candidates will be released on Monday and interviews will take place in the first week of March.
"This step is a major relief for us," President of the British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin, Dr Ramesh Mehta, said. "It is a major victory for us," he said.
The association claimed the "U-turn by the Department of Health was due to the sustained campaign of BAPIO supported by thousands of international medical graduates." BAPIO had earlier written to the Department of Health asking it to continue to hold the new rules in abeyance, as it was appealing against the February 9 verdict.
Since the highly-skilled migrant programme was announced in April 2006, under which employers have to prove that they had no appropriate candidates from the UK and EU before offering jobs to non-EU candidates, an estimated 5,000 Indian doctors have returned home as their prospects of getting a job here have diminished.
The Royal College of Physicians, among other British medical bodies, has expressed concern about the welfare of international medical graduates, who have been adversely affected by the new immigration rules announced in March 2006.
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