Indian doctors in the UK may find it difficult to apply for jobs under the proposed changes to the country’s visa regime with plans to introduce a new test for the employers for ensuring European workers are given priority for skilled jobs.
If employers wished to recruit a migrant from outside the settled workforce for a skilled job, they will need to show that they have carried out the Resident Labour Market Test (RLMT) unless the post is on the shortage occupation list, according to the new proposals.
The UK Migration Advisory Committee’s recommendation of a new RLMT to ensure UK and European workers are given priority for skilled jobs would mean that Indian medical graduates will be eligible to apply for higher training posts within the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) only once most vacancies are already filled up.
The British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (BAPIO), a representative body of nearly 50,000 Indian-origin doctors in the country, has decided to write to the UK Home Office warning of an impending “chaos” for NHS.
“We want to ensure Indian doctors are not used simply as a pair of hands to service the NHS. They should be treated equally as local doctors and given proper training before they return to their countries of origin,” BAPIO President Dr Ramesh Mehta told PTI on Saturday. “These new proposals solve political issues and not practical problems,” Mehta added.