Health and social care specialist HCL has welcomed the British Medical Association’s calls for a review of the processes which overseas doctors must undergo before they can work in the NHS.

However, the firm stressed that the NHS relies on overseas professionals and so highly qualified and talented international doctors should not be discriminated against.
 
Overseas professionals, especially nurses, doctors and allied health professionals, make up a significant proportion of NHS frontline services. For example, General Medical Council figures show that more than 91,000 of the UK’s 243,900 registered doctors gained their medical qualification outside Britain.

Currently, healthcare professionals from outside the EU have to sit tough language and competence tests before they can work in the NHS. But European law states that candidates from within the EU are exempt from these mandatory language tests.

Kate Bleasdale, executive vice chairman of HCL, says: “Demographic trends suggest that the NHS will need more, not less, overseas workers in coming years. The UK population is ageing and will need more frequent and acute care – we now have more people aged over 65 in the UK than we do under 16, and the number of over-65s is expected to double in the next 20 years.”