Time is running out for the UK to retain hundreds of newly qualified GPs caught in a visa trap, the Royal College of GPs has warned.

The college has made a new appeal to Home Secretary Suella Braverman to solve the problem, which requires GPs from overseas to get a sponsor after they complete their training. The Government had introduced an indefinite leave to remain scheme for newly qualified specialist doctors – but the indefinite leave is only available after five years of training and GPs train for three years.

The college said its latest survey showed that about a third of these GPs are considering leaving the UK because they find the visa system “so difficult”. About 40% of GP trainees are international medical graduates.

Writing to Braverman, college chair Professor Martin Marshall states: “The RCGP has been working with the NHS bodies across the UK to support IMGs and to help practices register as sponsors. While this has helped, we are still hearing that some IMGs are struggling and therefore we need a national solution to ensure all trainees are secure in their immigration status during the difficult transition between training and becoming a fully-fledged GP.”

Professor Marshall added: “At a time when general practice is experiencing the most severe workload pressures it has ever known, it is nonsensical that the NHS is going to the expense of training hundreds of GPs each year who then face potential removal by the Home Office because of an entirely avoidable visa issue. These bureaucratic immigration rules are not fit for purpose and without a resolution, we could potentially lose thousands of desperately needed newly qualified GPs from the workforce in the future. These rules need to be updated to accommodate the needs of people who are qualified and willing to work in general practice delivering patient care. We cannot afford to lose this expertise and willingness to work in the NHS, delivering care to patients, due to red tape.”