UK court re-opens doors for Indian docs

Indian-born doctors in Britain today won a major legal victory when the High Court here upheld their appeal against a government directive that had prevented them from being treated on a par with British and European medics or recruitment in the National Health Service.

A three-member Bench of the court upheld the appeal filed by the British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin that advice given by the Department of Health to the NHS employers regarding doctors on the High-Skilled Migrant Programme (HSMP) was not lawful.

Under the directive, there were practically two shortlists of international medical graduates for recruitment -- one of UK and EU citizens and another of Indian and other overseas doctors. The second list would have been considered for jobs that are not filled using doctors in the first list.

This would have also meant that doctors from overseas who would have made career progress if selection had occurred purely on merit may have been left with no jobs, devastated career plans and left many with little option but to leave the UK.

With today's ruling, international medical graduates on the HSMP visa can expect to be treated on merit for the 2008 recruitment process and onwards when they compete with UK and EU citizens for postgraduate training jobs.

But for the verdict, an estimated 16,000 international medical graduates would have been affected since they have completed varying duration of training but not achieved postgraduate certification. Under the circumstances they would have to leave UK half way through their career.

BS REPORTER ADDS: According to recent estimates, about 10,000 medical graduates of Indian origin are likely to benefit from the court verdict. The decision may also trigger further interest among Indian junior doctors to look for greener pastures in the UK. While a doctor in a government hospital in India starts his career with a salary of Rs 12,000 per month, he can expect to get as much as £2,000 (over Rs 160,000) if he lands a job with the National Health Service (NHS).

According to official estimates, some 30,000 doctors pass out of the country's medical colleges every year. A study by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry had found that there were 592,215 doctors in the country in 2005, with 22,000 more getting added every year. It has predicted that India will need at least 1.2 million doctors by 2012.