More action needed to harness skills of refugee doctors, British Medical Association says

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 16 Jun 2004 - 7:00 PDT

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The skills of hundreds of refugee doctors are not being put to the best use, figures published by the BMA show today (Wednesday 16 June).

To mark National Refugee Week, the BMA is highlighting the contribution made by refugee and asylum-seeking doctors who are working, or trying to work, in the NHS. Nearly a thousand (955) have registered on the BMA's database of refugee doctors, yet only 57 report that they are practising. Although the BMA estimates that the actual number who have found work is higher than this, it is unlikely to be more than 150 (16% of the total number on the database).

Many of the doctors who are in contact with the BMA have refugee status, but have not yet passed the exams needed to practise in the U.K., often because they are unfamiliar with the system, or struggling to fund their studies.

Dr Edwin Borman, chairman of the BMA's International Committee, says that the NHS would benefit hugely if more support and training were made available to refugee doctors: "The skills of medically qualified refugees are badly needed and it's ironic that so many are unable to work. It costs £250,000 to train a British medical student to become a doctor, but as little as £10,000 to prepare a refugee doctor to practise. From August the European Working Time Directive will impose new limits on junior doctors' hours, making it even more important that the NHS makes the best use of refugee doctors."

Case history

One success story is that of Dr Shakiba Habibula, who came to the U.K. from Afghanistan to study in 1995. When the Taliban came to power she realised that she would be in danger if she returned, so she claimed asylum. Ineligible for state benefits, she vowed to find ways of working as a doctor and applied for clinical attachments. None of the 20 hospitals she wrote to replied, so she decided to concentrate on her studies in public health - funding them by working as a secretary, shop assistant, and receptionist.

Now she is working as a public health doctor - which she describes as her dream job. Dr Habibula says "When I look back I realise I could have been doing this job eight years ago but I didn't understand the system and there was no-one to give me advice. Refugees and asylum seekers come here with a wealth of knowledge and experience which they offer at no cost, yet they get hardly any support to help them get back to work and make a contribution."

The BMA welcomes recent steps by the Department of Health and the General Medical Council to give greater support to refugee doctors. However, it believes more could be still done. At the BMA's annual conference this month, there will be a call for fairer rules on visas and benefits, and measures to make it easier for refugees to find hospital attachments to prepare them for work in the NHS.

Click here for Dr Habibula's full story and another case history: (Dr Javier Pineda)
http://www.bma.org.uk/ap.nsf/Content/RefugeeDocsCaseStudies

Click here for more information about refugee and asylum seeking doctors:
http://www.bma.org.uk/ap.nsf/Content/RefugeeDocsBriefingPaper

Click here for more figures from the BMA's database of refugee doctors:
http://www.bma.org.uk/ap.nsf/Content/Refugeedoctorstats

Contact the BMA press office for contact details of more refugee and asylum-seeking doctors.

Press release date: Wednesday, 16 Jun 2004 (BMA London)

http://www.bma.org.uk