Doctors awaiting asylum decisions will now be able to work in the NHS after the Home Office lifted a long-standing restriction, in a move welcomed by healthcare professionals and campaigners.
The policy change, which comes into force on Thursday, follows a High Court challenge brought by two specialist doctors who were previously barred from practising despite being fully qualified.
Until now, asylum seekers who had waited more than 12 months for a decision could only apply for jobs listed on the immigration salary list — which excluded medical roles such as doctors and nurses. The restriction remained in place despite ongoing staff shortages across parts of the NHS.
Under the updated rules, asylum seekers in this category will now be allowed to take up a range of graduate-level NHS positions, including frontline medical roles.
One doctor, specialising in paediatric intensive care, said they had repeatedly been refused permission to work.
“I previously asked the Home Office for permission to work as a doctor three times. But they refused me three times… I specialise in paediatric intensive care but until now I have been forced to do nothing,” they said.
Another doctor, who had applied for nearly 100 care worker roles while waiting for a decision, described being rejected for being overqualified.
“I want to contribute to the NHS… I applied for almost 100 care worker jobs… But I received rejections to all my applications and was told I was over-qualified,” they said.
The legal challenge was supported by REACHE, an NHS-funded organisation that helps refugee and asylum-seeking healthcare professionals return to practice.
One of the claimants, a neuro-rehabilitation specialist, has since been granted refugee status and has now taken up a specialist NHS role that had remained vacant for a year.
A radiologist involved in the case, now undertaking clinical training, described the change as transformative.
“I feel like a fish that has come back into the water being able to work in a hospital again. I’m alive again,” he said.
“There is a shortage of radiologists but we were not allowed to help.”
Campaigners say the previous policy risked deskilling trained professionals and undermining NHS capacity.
Dr Aisha Awan, a GP and director of REACHE, said: “We must ethically address that doctors, nurses and health professionals becoming deskilled is a huge loss to humanity… undermining NHS workforce capacity and negatively impacting mental health and integration.”
Legal representatives also criticised the previous restrictions.
“Our clients, two highly qualified doctors, were prohibited from working in their shortage specialities in the NHS for over a year,” said Becky Hart of Bhatt Murphy solicitors.
“This case highlights how nonsensical and harmful it is… to ban work for people seeking asylum who wish to work.”
The Home Office’s decision is expected to ease pressure on NHS staffing while allowing skilled asylum seekers to contribute to the healthcare system as they await decisions on their status.