From Raj to Rhondda: how Indian doctors saved the NHS.

Interesting documentary examining the massive contribution by Asian doctors to the National Health Service in Britain. In the early 1960s, Conservative Health Minister Enoch Powell encouraged the recruitment of large numbers of doctors and medical staff from the former British colonies to cope with the growth of the NHS. Several Asian doctors who arrived in Britain in the '60s talk about their experiences. These doctors came here hoping to further their careers, but many were sent to the run-down hospitals and depressed areas where they were most needed. One such area was the Rhondda Valley in South Wales, where today 73% of doctors are from South Asia. The doctors talk of the difficulty of getting a job in Britain and working in a foreign language as well as prejudice encountered at work. Enoch Powell's 1968 'Rivers of Blood' speech is covered, with footage of the demonstrations to 'Stop the Immigrants' that it triggered. There is also a brief look at how Indians were portrayed by the entertainment world in the 1960s and 1970s, contrasted with the fact that no hospital drama since the 1990s has been complete without an Asian doctor. Today, the British Medical Association wants to acknowledge the huge service Asian doctors have provided to the NHS. The programme concludes by asking who will take over from these doctors when they come to retire, having worked in 'unwanted' positions in deprived areas since the 1960s?