Migrant doctors blocked from working due to Home Office delays amid mounting pressure on NHS

Priti Patel urged to act as 'unconscionable’ delays prevent frontline doctors from hospital work

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Qualified doctors in the UK are being blocked from working due to Home Office delays, at a time when the NHS is under increasing pressure due to surging numbers of coronavirus cases.

Home secretary Priti Patel has been urged to act after it emerged delays in issuing Biometric Residence Permits (BRP), which prove a visa holder’s right to work in the UK, are preventing frontline doctors from working in hospitals to combat the pandemic.

In one case, a respiratory specialist doctor with an approved visa who is currently in Leicester, a city hit particularly hard by Covid-19, is unable to start work due to an ongoing delay providing him with a BRP.

Despite multiple contacts by email and telephone as well as intervention by his MP, Dr Ahmad Ussaid is unable to start work, depriving him of an income and the NHS of a skilled doctor when the health service is being increasingly stretched.  

The Independent revealed this week that the number of coronavirus patients in English hospitals is set to pass the April peak within days, with the current total already near the first wave record. 

According to the latest NHS England data, there were 18,036 patients with Covid-19 across all NHS settings, just 885 short of the 18,921 peak hit on 12 April.

A survey by the British Medical Association last week meanwhile revealed that thousands of doctors were concerned about their capacity to cope with the “incredible demand” facing the NHS, as they warned coronavirus levels in hospitals were higher than they were at the same point in the first wave of the pandemic. 

A letter to Ms Patel from Doctors’ Association UK (DAUK) on Wednesday stated that delays in providing BRPs were preventing frontline doctors from working in NHS hospitals to combat the pandemic due to a “bureaucratic hindrance”, depriving the health service of skilled doctors “when the country needs them most”.

It called for a fast-track system to be introduced to ensure BRPs are issued without delay for all approved visas for international medical graduates, to make sure the NHS has the “highest number of trained personnel on the frontline during the escalating pandemic”. 

The letter also raises concern about delays in refunding the immigration health surcharge, which DAUK said “smacked of reluctance” to implement the government pledge.

Boris Johnson removed the NHS migrant surcharge – a £624-a-year fee which is levied on most UK via applications – for health and care workers in May after he came under intense pressure over the “immorality” of the policy. Staff were told they could apply for reimbursements of the charge backdated to March 2020.

However, seven months later, many doctors are still waiting for their refunds and have been given no clear reason for the delay, while others have been refused as they have paid from bank accounts from their country of origin which have been closed on arrival to the UK, according to DAUK. 

“It is known that Bame NHS staff are at increased risk of dying from Covid-19 yet they are still stepping up to treat the sick during this time of emergency,” states the letter.

“If these staff members are willing to step forward and help the nation, the nation must respond in kind. Failure to do so is simply not in keeping with accepted British values.”

Dr Dolin Bhagawati, a neurosurgeon working in London and editorial lead for DAUK, said the “prolonged” and ongoing bureaucratic delays were “simply unconscionable”.

“We have trained doctors in this country who are ready and willing to help combat the pandemic but unable to work due to the Home Office not doing its job and supplying appropriate documentation,” he continued.

“Meanwhile promises made by the prime minister and the cabinet regarding refunding the immigration health surcharge to NHS staff continue to remain unfulfilled. How can the NHS attract the best and brightest to the UK if the world sees a government unable to fulfil straightforward promises?

“Unfortunately, the immigration rhetoric and policies of the recent past has led to many of our valued colleagues feeling crestfallen, unappreciated, and exploited. This country must reward those that come to its aid in its time of greatest need.”

A Home Office spokesperson said: “We are hugely grateful for the vital contributions all NHS staff have made during the pandemic, which is why we have introduced a range of unprecedented measures to ensure the health and care sector are supported fully.

“This includes exempting health and care workers from payment of the immigration health surcharge and extending the visas of more than 6,000 frontline health workers and their dependents for free so they can continue their crucial work in the fight against coronavirus.

“We are processing a high volume of surcharge refunds and are also working hard to respond to enquiries and resolve issues with [BRPs] to return to normal service standards.”