Many doctors of Indian origin live in a state of penury in the UK, depending upon free food given at temples. Very few of them even have decent lodgings. This is the offshoot of an appeal made by the NHS for more doctors to serve in the country in 2001, which had resulted in many doctors from third world countries migrating to the UK.
Most of them are faced with discrimination and unemployment rather than hospitals welcoming them, which is what they expected. All of them had gone through the professional and linguistic assessment board (Plab) test in the UK. Their own nations stand deprived of their skills and face a shortage of doctors. The number of unemployed foreign doctors in the UK is at almost 7,000, and many may have to return to their homelands disappointed.A General Medical Council (GMC) study has revealed that less than 50% of the medical practitioners who passed the test manage to find a job in six months time. They are also obliged to pay £500 towards renewing their visas, in addition to having to pay the NHS trusts money to get the necessary local experience which will guarantee them a good job. A ten-day course to prepare for the Plab test costs £150. The local recruitment agencies which hire doctors for the NHS however appear to be prospering.
