This story was first published in digitalhealth.net
Overseas doctors added to shortage occupation list
Overseas doctors will no longer have to meet onerous visa fees and financial thresholds to work in the NHS, following changes to migration rules.
The Migration Advisory Committee has added doctors from all branches of practice, as well as other medical professionals such as nurses, to the UK’s shortage occupation list.
Responding to the decision announcement, BMA council chair Chaand Nagpaul said that the announcement was a victory in the ongoing battle against ‘chronic workforce shortages’. The BMA called on the MAC to include doctors from specialties such as general practice, psychiatry, emergency medicine and paediatrics on the shortage list as a bare minimum short-term action to help alleviate the health service’s staffing crisis.
Nagpaul said: “The BMA is delighted that such a respected body as the MAC has listened to the BMA and proposed a bold, but much needed, recommendation to place all doctors on the shortage occupation list. This welcome proposal is a victory for the BMA and for the sustained lobbying by the association to address the chronic workforce shortages which are undermining the delivery of patient care across the NHS.
“It's very clear that overseas doctors have always made a valuable contribution to the success of our health service; their contribution is needed now more than ever. We are also pleased that the MAC has also acknowledged that as well as putting all doctors on the shortage occupation list, it will take more effective workforce planning and greater efforts to increase the numbers of people wanting to work in health the healthcare profession and stop those wanting to leave in order to meet growing patient demand.”
The complete changes to the shortage occupation list means that it will now cover approximately nine per cent of jobs in the labour market, compared to one per cent under the previous list.
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