9 April 2018
'Bureaucracy Getting in the Way of Common Sense' - RCGP Verdict on GP Trainee Facing Deportation
Responding to reports that GP trainee Dr Luke Ong is facing deportation due to a delay in his visa process, Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, Chair of the Royal College of GPs, said: "The NHS is severely short of GPs – we simply don't have enough to go around, and our patients are waiting longer for appointments as a result.
"We need every single appropriately-trained doctor we can get working in UK general practice, so it makes absolutely no sense that a GP trainee who has studied medicine here – at great national investment - and chosen to become a family doctor here, is being pushed out instead of being welcomed with open arms.
"We understand the need for well-defined rules on immigration, but these need to be intelligently applied. This really is a tragic example of bureaucracy getting in the way of common sense.
"We have previously raised concerns with the Home Secretary about the impact of visa rules on the GP workforce, and we'll be writing again in the strongest possible terms, urging her to intervene in this case and to ensure similar instances are not repeated."
Further Information
RCGP Press office: 020 3188 7574/7575/7633/7410
Out of hours: 0203 188 7659
press@rcgp.org.uk
Notes
The Royal College of General Practitioners is a network of more than 52,000 family doctors working to improve care for patients. We work to encourage and maintain the highest standards of general medical practice and act as the voice of GPs on education, training, research and clinical standards.