27.01.14
A quarter of doctors are non-British
Stricter immigration rules could adversely affect the NHS, as statistics show 11% of all staff are non-British.
Figures obtained by the Guardian showed that the number rises for doctors, 26% of whom are non-British. India provides the second highest number of staff to the NHS, after Britain, and the Philippines is in third, for workers whose identity was known.
The statistics comes from the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC).
Tim Finch, from the Institute for Public Policy Research, said: “People are still attracted to work in the NHS. Without them we'd clearly be short – it would be very hard to replace that number overnight.
“If the single thread of immigration policy is just to get the overall figure down by any means, you've got to look at the consequences of that on the NHS.”
A BMA spokeswoman said: “Overseas doctors have for many years made a valuable and important contribution to the NHS, especially in key services where there has been a historic shortage of UK-trained doctors.
“This includes consultant posts in emergency care, haematology and old-age psychiatry. Without the support of these doctors many NHS services would struggle to provide effective care to their patients.”
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