New immigration rules to
restrict International Medical Graduates' access to UK
post-graduate medical training
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
News Release (2008/0016) issued by The Government News Network on 6
February 2008
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 http://www.mmc.nhs.uk. 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)