Dear Alastair,
The RCSEd are delighted by the decision from the Home Office to automatically extend the visas of MTI participants due to finish their post prior to 1st October 2020. However, as you will be aware, there are hundreds of doctors currently on MTI placements who have also had their training suspended in order to support the NHS during this unprecedented crisis.
Many of these doctors either only recently started their posts, or have had the middle of their training interrupted. The automatic extension already in place recognises that training may be suspended for up to 6 months, which as you are aware represents a quarter or more of the total training time allocated to these doctors. For doctors towards the start of their placement, there is currently no indication that they will be offered an extension that will allow them to complete the training that they travelled to the UK in good faith to receive.
Many of the surgeons placed through the RCSEd International Postgraduate Deanery have expressed their great concern that they will lose out on this training time; this is a concern that we share. Their courage and enthusiasm at supporting the NHS through this crisis is admirable. We believe that it is only right that this is honoured by allowing them to complete the training that they have left their homes and their families to undergo.
As the national sponsor for MTI, we are asking the Academy to urgently review their policy position on visa extensions in this unique situation and to call for an automatic extension for all MTI doctors currently undergoing training in the NHS, regardless of their start date.
Yours sincerely,
Professor S Michael Griffin OBE, RCSEd President
Mr Pala B Rajesh, RCSEd Vice President