It would be idiotic to deport this GP

We all know general practice is on its knees — no one wants to be a GP these days. So you’d think that if a dedicated, passionate young doctor came along who wanted to be an NHS GP, we would be delighted.

The story of Dr luke Ong should infuriate every sane, sensible person in this country.

The 31-year- old Manchester doctor has been working for the NHS for seven years. He came from Singapore in September 2007 to study medicine, for which his parents paid almost £100,000.

after graduating, he set his sights on becoming a GP and began his postgraduate training — which is funded by the NHS and the Government.

Now, just a few months off qualifying, he is about to be deported — because he was two weeks late renewing his visa.

What’s more, it wasn’t even his fault that his visa had expired. Dr Ong tried to book an appointment in July 2017 for indefinite leave to remain in Britain but Home Office officials couldn’t see him until September 2.

His application was then turned down on the grounds that he had met officials after the deadline.

It makes my blood boil. Here is a man who has trained here as a doctor, was working as a GP and was just days away from gaining an automatic right to remain in the UK because he had been here legitimately for ten years.

Meanwhile, the Government has announced it plans to spend £100 million to get GPs from abroad to alleviate our crisis.

Unlike Dr Ong, these recruits will be arriving without any knowledge of the NHS or the population they are serving.

We should be doing all we can to get Dr Ong to stay, not trying to put him on a plane out of here. My sincere hope is that someone in government intervenes to sort out this silliness.