Refugee doctors to fill Lincolnshire NHS staff shortages

NHS doctors must be registered with the General Medical Council (GMC) to work in the UK

Refugee doctors are to be retrained to work in the NHS in Lincolnshire to help tackle staff shortages.

The Lincolnshire Refugee Doctor Project said it hoped to train up to 10 medics in the first recruitment phase.

They would be given the language help and professional mentoring required for them to work in the NHS, it said.

A national shortage of doctors has caused staffing issues at United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust, which has been placed in special measures.

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The charity-led project is aimed at supporting refugee doctors back into medical practice in the UK.

'Win-win'

NHS doctors must be registered with the General Medical Council (GMC) to work in the UK.

In order to do so they must pass strict English language, linguistic and clinical tests set by the GMC.

Middlesbrough has piloted a similar NHS scheme to recruit refugee doctors.

Dr Jane Metcalf, deputy medical director at the University Hospital of North Tees, which has been involved with the pilot, said the resettlement programme for overseas doctors was primarily a humanitarian project but it also helped the trust meet its recruitment needs.

"It's a win-win situation," she said.

Accommodation assistance

The Lincolnshire Refugee Doctor Project said because recruitment into the medical profession had decreased at the same time as there had been a rise in the number of medics leaving, there had never been a greater need for doctors to be recruited.

Andrew Mowat, chairman of the project, said there were up to 600 refugee doctors currently known to the British Medical Association and who were not working in the NHS.

He said: "We're hoping to recruit from among them and bring them to Lincolnshire and provide the necessary training."

Mr Mowat said the project would ensure doctors were given help with both personal and professional issues such as accommodation, claiming benefits and settling into life in Lincolnshire.