Doctors waiting on asylum decisions can work in NHS as Home Office lifts ban | Immigration and asylum

Doctors who have been blocked from working in the NHS while awaiting asylum decisions are rejoicing after the Home Office agreed to lift the ban. The changes take effect Thursday.

The changes to immigration rules follow a High Court challenge brought by two specialist doctors who had the qualifications to work for the NHS but were prevented from working. Physicians who experience a break in their practice can quickly find themselves deskilled. So far, the ban has remained in place despite shortages of doctors and other healthcare professionals in parts of the NHS.

The two doctors, one a radiologist and the other a specialist in neuro-rehabilitation, challenged the work authorization policy for asylum seekers, which severely restricts the areas in which they can be authorized to work if they have waited more than 12 months for a first decision on their asylum application. They could only search for jobs on the immigration salary list, which was introduced in April 2024 and did not include doctors.

The Guardian spoke to two doctors who are qualified to work in the UK but have not been allowed to do so until now, who said they would apply on “day one” of the rule change.

“I have already asked the Interior Ministry three times for permission to work as a doctor. But they have refused me three times. I specialize in pediatric intensive care but so far I have not been forced to do anything,” one of them said.

The two doctors who made the complaint were ready to work thanks to the support of REACHE – Refugee and Asylum Seekers Center for Healthcare Professionals Education, funded by the NHS.

The neuro-rehabilitation specialist obtained refugee status, which gives him the right to work. She was able to take up a specialist position that she had applied for a year earlier but had not been allowed to accept. The position remained vacant during this period.

The High Court hearing was adjourned last December after the Home Secretary agreed to carry out an urgent review. She changed the policy so that those who waited 12 months or more for an initial asylum decision will now be allowed to take up multiple senior jobs in the NHS, including as doctors and nurses.

The second doctor who can now apply for NHS jobs said: “I want to contribute to the NHS. After waiting over 12 months for my asylum application to be processed, I applied for almost 100 care assistant jobs – these jobs are on the immigration pay list. But all my applications were rejected and I was told I was overqualified.”

The radiologist who filed the lawsuit is currently undergoing clinical practical training at a hospital. “I feel like a fish coming back to water and being able to work in a hospital again. I’m alive again,” he said. “There is a shortage of radiologists, but we have not been allowed to help. »

The neuro-rehabilitation specialist said: “I wanted to become a doctor from a young age so I could help people. It was frustrating and disappointing to be barred from doing so before we started the legal process.”

Dr Aisha Awan, GP and lecturer at the University of Manchester and director of REACHE, said: “There is increasing displacement of people due to conflict and global events. We must ethically consider that the deskilling of doctors, nurses and healthcare professionals is a huge loss to humanity. In addition, it is economically counterproductive, undermines the capacity of the NHS workforce and has a negative impact on mental health and integration.”

Becky Hart, solicitor at Bhatt Murphy, who represents the two doctors who took legal action, said: “Our clients, two highly qualified doctors, have been banned from working in their shortage specialties within the NHS for over a year. We are pleased that the Secretary of State has finally agreed to change her policy to expand the jobs in which asylum seekers can work to include doctors, nurses and other skilled professions. This case highlights to how absurd and harmful it is both to individuals and to society to prohibit work to asylum seekers who want work.