Top psychiatrist appeals to Johnson over Home Office’s refusal of permission to remain for mother

AN NHS doctor has expressed frustration at the Home Office's refusal to let his mother stay in the UK, and on Monday (7) appealed directly to prime minister Boris Johnson and home secretary Priti Patel to resolve the situation.

Dr Nishchint Warikoo, the lead psychiatrist for child and adolescent mental health services in Hampshire, said he plans to quit the NHS and relocate to Australia if his mother isn't granted permission to stay in the UK.

Warikoo said he and his family were being forced to leave the UK in a bid to stay together.

Warikoo's 71-year-old Indian-born mother Phoola is a widow and he is her only child. The doctor, who became a British citizen in 2014 and has worked in the NHS for 15 years, argues that he has no relatives in India who may take care of her.

Tweeting Johnson and Patel on Monday, Warikoo wrote: “I am a British citizen, NHS consultant, and a researcher. Have cared for thousands of children with mental health problems, saved many young lives and helped thousands of families in distress. Now my family is forced to leave the country. Help please.”

Warikoo has resolved to leave the UK before Christmas if the Home Office does not decide on his mother’s case by December, or if they refuse her leave to remain.

He has already been offered a job in Australia.

The 46-year-old told the Guardian: “It’s very stressful for us as a family. We don’t want to leave the country. But we are being forced to because we are in this limbo state. The Home Office have displayed an almost callous attitude to this case.

“I need to know as soon as possible if my mother is going to be allowed to stay or not, because I can’t take this any more. I have worked so hard for young people and families in Britain in my time here and now I want some support from the system for my family, for it to show a bit of flexibility.”