Greek doctors working in the United Kingdom worry that they might lose their jobs after statements by British Prime Minister Theresa May and Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt.
Speaking on BBC television on Thursday, May said that the UK National Health System should become “self-sufficient” and that foreign doctors currently working in the country are for an “interim period.” She added that more British doctors will be trained to fill NHS positions.
Hunt reiterated the prime minister’s statements saying that when Britain leaves the European Union officially, he will set out a package of measures aimed at reducing its reliance on foreign doctors.
According to a report in The Guardian, the health secretary’s plan is to replace foreign doctors with British doctors in the NHS health system so that it becomes self-sufficient by 2025, “by the end of next parliament.” One of the measures will be lifting the cap of places in British medical schools.
Currently there are 3,757 Greek doctors working in the UK, according to Britain’s General Medical Council (GMC). There is a total of about 83,000 foreign doctors working in the country now, comprising 36 percent of the total medical work force.
Greek doctors rank in sixth place of foreign doctors employed in the UK, and second among EU member states. The vast majority of them arrived in the UK after 2010, when the economic crisis hit Greece.
“Today, there is no longer a hospital in Britain without Greek doctors,” says Grigoris Makris, specializing in Interventional Radiology at Oxford University Hospital and professor at the Imperial College of London.
Makris, who is also president of the Greek medical community in Britain, Greek Medical Association UK, spoke to protothema.gr, praising the high level of medical education in Britain and the great career opportunities Greek doctors have in the UK. “Everyone who is capable and competitive, works hard and does good work, will be rewarded,” he said.
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