By NNN-PTI,
London : Within days of Indian and other non-European Union doctors winning a case in the House of Lords, a parliamentary committee has criticised the government for its handling of the issue.
In a highly critical report, members of the House of Commons Select Committee on Health yesterday lambasted poor planning, bad coordination with the Home Office over immigration controls and inadequate leadership by the Department of Health.
The committee described short-listing for jobs in the National Health Service (NHS) as disastrous and administration as nothing short of chaotic.
The scheme, through which thousands of Indian doctors get training jobs in the NHS, is known as Modernising Medical Careers (MMC) introduced last year.
But it caused a major controversy after more than a thousand British-trained junior doctors were left without training posts, while many Indians and others from outside the EU were given jobs.
Many British doctors were forced to leave the country to find jobs in Australia, Canada and the US after they failed to get a job through the MMC.
Last week, the House of Lords upheld an appeal by the British Physicians of Indian Origin (Bapio) that the guidance to favour British-trained doctors was unlawful.
Kevin Barron, chairman of the committee, said that plans to discourage foreign applicants by charging them for training was impractical. New primary legislation might prove effective, he said.