For more years than I can remember, doctors from the Indian sub-continent and other Commonwealth nations have been the backbone of the National Health Service in the United Kingdom. A change in Britain’s immigration system means many of these doctors will have to make way for European Union doctors who want to work in the UK.

Basically, doctors who are EU nationals will now have priority over all others. A doctor from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and the rest of the Commonwealth will only be allowed to work in the UK if that post cannot be filled by a EU national.

Doctors demonstrated in London last Friday against these new immigration rules. Rules, they say, which discriminate against any doctor who is not from inside the European Union. Rules which move away from merit and favour nationality.

This new rule, which comes into effect this month, is a serious blow to non-EU trainee doctors who study medicine in the UK. Many of them have got seriously into debt to pay for their studies, expecting to pay off their loans when they start working in the National Health Service. For many of them, this rule means no job and a huge debt.

Had trainee doctors known this was going to happen, how many would not have started their training in Britain and would not have such huge debts now? Teaching medicine to foreign doctors is big business for British Universities. A business which is often supported by bank loans.

15,000 doctors could be affected by this new rule, according to the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants.

Editor’s Opinion:

As an Englishman I feel this rule is bad for British medicine, bad for Britain and bad for Britain’s relationship with many important friends.

Bad For British Medicine

Doctors from the Indian subcontinent and the rest of the Commonwealth have been the backbone of our National Health Service. Without them the whole thing would have fallen apart a long time ago. Their studies follow similar lines to those in the UK.

How important will our medical schools be in future if we lose thousands of foreign medical students?

Bad for Britain

Although Britain is a European country and shares many values with the rest of Europe, many aspects of British culture are more relevant to what is going on in the Commonwealth. With the exception of Ireland, who is going to understand what we are talking about in Europe when we get excited about the Test Series (cricket)? Who in the rest of Europe, apart from the Irish, French, Romanians and some Italians, really have any idea what rugby is all about?

Since Britain joined what was then the European Common Market, we have slowly become more European – and this if fine; our food has got a lot better. But we should not lose our ties with countries which have exchanged great cultural links with us for centuries. An enormous part of the UK sees ?curry’ as the national dish.

Bad for our relationship with countries that matter

In the not-to-distant future, some Commonwealth countries are going to be world powers – of which India is the most likely. Our relationship with India, its people and its culture will be a great asset for British businesspeople wanting to expand abroad.

Written by: Christian Nordqvist
Editor: Medical News Today