Indian doctors win legal battle in the U.K.

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Court rules to treat Indian doctors on par with British doctors

November 22, 2007

Indian doctors on HSMP (Highly Skilled Migrant Program) visas wishing to train or work in Britain won a major court ruling in their favor on November 9, 2007. The High Court's Friday ruling treating Indian and other international doctors on par with British and European Union doctors for purposes of employment is seen as the first legal rebuff to Prime Minister Gordon Brown's populist promise of "British jobs for British workers".

The court case revolved around a challenge to a Health Ministry guidance that would have compelled prospective employers - such as hospitals - to discriminate against non-European candidates, first by establishing that their skills were not found in Europe and then, if selected, to apply for work permits for them.

In a unanimous ruling, three judges of the Appeals Court called the Ministry guidance "illegal," sparking instant celebrations among campaigners of the British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (BAPIO) on Diwali day. "This is a great ruling. We are absolutely ecstatic, and feel exuberant," BAPIO's Dr. Sheethal Mathew said. "Our doctors from India, Pakistan or Sri Lanka will now be able to compete with European doctors on an equal footing. Employers cannot discriminate against us now," he said.

The ruling is expected to immediately benefit some 10-15,000 doctors of South Asian origin, who are living in Britain and have been eagerly awaiting the outcome of the case.

However, the campaigners lost a second challenge - against the British government's abrupt changes to the Highly Skilled Migrant Program last year. The BAPIO challenged the changes on the grounds that their members were not consulted. But Mathew said the BAPIO would not take any further legal action.

Amidst the cheer over the ruling, Indian doctors are also sounding a note of caution. The ruling removes a restriction to employment but they believe that doctors from India wishing to move to Britain should continue to think several times before doing so, for several reasons.

For one, the pool of employable people has grown exponentially due to higher numbers of overseas doctors clearing the mandatory pre-employment tests such as the Professional and Linguistic Assessments Board (PLAB) test.

Secondly, more numbers of British medical graduates are turning out every year due to higher investment in enlarging the student capacity in medical schools in the last 10 years. Many of them find it difficult to gain employment in the NHS.

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