DNA
 
London, Jul 9: Around ten years ago Indian doctors were in huge demand in the United Kingdom. The government poured money into the National Health Service (NHS), but Britain didn’t have enough medicos, particularly senior doctors, to fill the vacancies.

The NHS went all over the world to recruit doctors, advertising in local papers and enticing doctors to come to the UK with promises of a great life. Indian doctors saw the demand and began applying.

However, when they reached the UK many doctors found that there were not as many jobs or training posts available, as they believed. Doctors were often seen having to resort to jobs in petrol pumps and newsagents just to earn a living.

Most of these Indian doctors have left the UK now having either gone to other countries where there are opportunities like Canada, Australia and the USA, or they have returned to India.

The number of Indian doctors coming to the UK has declined from 10,000 in 2005 to a few hundred in 2007.

This is not because Indian doctors aren’t interested in coming to Britain anymore, but because the UK authorities are no longer welcoming doctors from the Indian subcontinent. Due to the new visa rules for doctors put in place since 2006 there are fewer jobs.

“I would go so far as to say that there are no jobs for Indian doctors in the UK now,” says Dr Ramesh Mehta, president of the British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (BAPIO).