Indian docs in UK win battle for equal rights

Under the directive, there were practically two shortlists of international medical graduates for recruitment — one of UK and EU citizens and another of Indian and other overseas doctors. The second list would have been considered for jobs that are not filled using doctors in the first list.

This would have also meant that doctors from overseas, who would have made career progress if selection had occurred purely on merit, may have been left with no jobs, devastated career plans and depression and for many with little option but to leave the UK.

With Friday’s ruling, international medical graduates on the HSMP visa can expect to be treated on merit for the 2008 recruitment process and onwards when they compete with UK and EU citizens for postgraduate training jobs.

But for the verdict, an estimated 16,000 international medical graduates would have been affected since they have completed varying duration of training but not achieved postgraduate certification. Under the circumstances they would have to leave UK half way through their career.

The appeal by BAPIO was heard by Lord Justice Sedley, Lord Justice Maurice Kay and Lord Justice Rimer.

Buddhdev Pandya, Corporate Advisor to the BAPIO, said, “Earlier the High Court had also ruled that the department did not carry out a Race Impact Assessment and I believe that these historical judgments are both significant and will have significant impact on the careers of thousands of international medical graduates.”

Pandya was instrumental in setting up BAPIO in 1998, which represented the interests of about 25,000 doctors from the Indian subcontinent who worked in the NHS.

Dr Raman Lakshman, Vice Chair for Policy for BAPIO, which had spearheaded the 16-month legal battle, said, “This is a victory for merit and fairness. Doctors on HSMP have committed to the United Kingdom and the court has rightly found that it was wrong to treat them differently.”

“This is a landmark victory for international medical graduates, as the court has found not only that the Home Office did not carry out a Race Impact Assessment but also the Department of Health gave incorrect guidance to the NHS employers on the way these doctors are to be treated,” said Dr Satheesh Mathew, Vice Chair BAPIO (Operations).

He said, “However, we also believe that all UK graduates must be guaranteed postgraduate training.”

“This judgment will mean that Indian doctors and other international medical graduates in the UK will not have to pay the price for the poor workforce management of the Department of Health.”

BAPIO lost its earlier case on February 9, despite arguing that it was wrong for Britain to suddenly – without consultation or warning — decree that work permit-free visas would no longer be issued to non-European Union doctors.

BAPIO’s legal challenge, which has cost the voluntary organisation an estimated 150,000 pounds in member-contributions, had managed to stave off the complete disenfranchisement of Indian doctors because it secured an emergency court injunction in March to force the health ministry to shortlist non-Europeans for 21,000 jobs.

Thanks to the court injunction, about 3,000 international medical graduates, mostly Indians, were able to secure jobs in August this year.

“But many thousands did not get the jobs and some thousands even left for India,” Lakshman said.

About 15,000 doctors were still affected by the controversial rule, he said.

In August, the British Parliament’s Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) published a report severely criticizing the controversial changes to immigration rules for highly-skilled migrants and demanding that the affected Indians and others no longer be left in the lurch.

The parliamentary committee report came two months after Britain’s race relations watchdog criticised the government’s failure “to fully comply with the requirements of the Race Equality Duty” with respect to changes to the HSMP visa scheme.