Healthcare :: UK Junior doctors seeking jobs abroad

Indian doctors aspiring to make a future in the UK may now think twice before taking a plunge as a record number of junior medics in Britain are seeking jobs abroad after the National Health Service’s botched recruitment system left 16,000 trainees chasing 2,000 jobs.

The number of young medics, who are unable to find NHS jobs and looking for work in Australia, New Zealand and the Middle East, has risen twenty-fold.

The largest GPs (general practitioners) recruiting agency has seen more than 1,000 doctors making enquiries about work abroad, compared with just 50 in the same period last year, The Sunday Telegraph reports.

In 10 days’ time, 13,000 doctors will take up places at hospitals across England, under a new scheme which standardises and shortens training. But 16,000 are still waiting to hear if they have received one of just 2,300 posts left to be filled in a second round of applications which runs until October.

A British Medical Association survey of more than 2,000 doctors showed that almost half have considered leaving the country if they do not get jobs, while nine in ten thought patient care will worsen because of changes to training.

The new system reduces the number of training hours from 21,000 to 6,000 and requires medics to specialist earlier in their careers.

Doctors are warning of chaos from the start of next month, with hospitals expecting to cancel operations in order to cope with difficulties as thousands of doctors switch jobs.


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