Number of doctors from the UK is migrating to Australia under its skilled immigration visas. The doctors who had already migrated to Australia are saying that the advanced pay rates and enhanced working conditions have lured them in switching from the NHS of the UK for practicing overseas.
In the month of July 2015, Jeremy Hunt, Health Secretary of the UK announced contract proposals for the staff of the NHS, and after this announcement around 3,468 doctors had applied for the permission from the Council for General Medical (GMC) for the certificates with regards to practicing in overseas nations.
Australia has always remained a favorable destination for the doctors from the UK, mainly because of the rates of salaries could be up to 50% high and working hours are also shorter. There has been boost in the number of doctors and nurses from the UK who are immigrating to Australia.
According to the current report from the Economic Cooperation Development Organization (OECD), the nation needs minimum of 26,500 new doctors and around 47,700 new nurses.
In the year 2011, Australia had hired around 22% specialist doctors and around 13% general practitioners from the UK on the skilled immigration visas of Australia. And it is expected that the figure will rise much higher as there has been increase in the number of doctors from the UK who had applied for the permission from the GMC for the certificates to practice overseas.
And according to the Australian Medical Association Head, Brian Owler, its obvious for the doctors from the UK to migrate to Australia, as they are ill treated by the NHS. He also said that the doctors from the UK are being undervalued in the UK despite the services they have been providing. The doctors from the UK are applying to migrate to Australia because the country’s health services provides much better working conditions and the doctors are benefitting from the improved lifestyle in Australia.
