BMA body member expresses concern over Home Office rules

A member of the British Medical Association’s Scottish Junior Doctors Committee (SJDC) has expressed concerns that new Home Office regulations could impact negatively on the number of medical students coming to the UK.

The Home Office’s new point-based immigration system will mean that every doctor coming from outside the EU will need a permit to be employed in the UK, meaning that some non-EU medical students may no longer be allowed to accept training posts following the completion of their courses.

Explaining the reaction at the BMA’s conference in Belfast, SJDC member, Dr Katie MacLaren told BBC Radio Scotland’s Scotland Live programme: “The upshot was to fully maintain our position… at the sheer shock and appalling nature at which this was brought in on the seventh of March with the announcement it would take effect from the end of April.”

“We should fully support all overseas doctors who are currently working in the UK and we wish them to be able to complete their training without a permit,” she added.

Dr MacLaren concluded: “We also are calling for overseas doctors who are in the UK who are currently unemployed to be allowed to have a grace period of two years to find a training post and then complete their training over here.”

In March, the Scottish Executive admitted that it was struggling to meet its target of recruiting a further 600 NHS consultants as set in 2002, according to BBC News.

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