Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that doctors from India that have received job offers to work in the NHS are given visas.

The Government recognises fully the contribution that doctors working in the NHS – and other professionals – make to the UK.

Doctors in specialisms which the Migration Advisory Committee have recognised as being in shortage in the UK already receive priority within the Tier 2 allocation system. None of these roles, which include consultants specialising in clinical radiology and emergency medicine, have been refused places. Over a third of all Tier 2 places go to the NHS.

We continue to monitor the operation of Tier 2 to ensure that it strikes the right balance between supporting employers – including the NHS - accessing talent from overseas and that it works in the national interest and protects the resident labour market.