Few foreign specialists want to come and work in the NHS, leaving the government's plan to bolster the service with overseas doctors in disarray.

Two schemes were looking to recruit 1,000 foreign specialists.

So far, just 45 have joined the NHS.

There has been a huge surge in the number of trainee doctors applying to take an exam known as the PLAB test, which they have to pass in order to work in Britain.

The number has risen by 75% in a year, from 4,600 to 8,000.

Word has got out that the UK is desperate for doctors

Professor Graeme Catto, GMC president

But the head of the General Medical Council, which monitors standards for overseas doctors, has warned that the UK is not attracting the specialist medics it needs.

Professor Graeme Catto, the GMC's president, said though the government was targeting consultants, increasing numbers of doctors applying to take the PLAB test which allows doctors to work in lower, supervised, grades.

"We have had a few hundred applications from senior doctors and we have been inundated with applications from the training grades.

"Word has got out that the UK is desperate for doctors and anyone can get a job."

'Back streets of Calcutta'

He added that the UK was in the same position as the US, Canada, Sweden, the Netherlands, Australia and New Zealand in that it was facing a shortage of doctors.

Professor Catto warned: "We are going to have the ludicrous situation where we are all setting up our stall in the back streets of Calcutta."

Earlier this year, the renowned heart surgeon Sir Magdi Yacoub was asked to spearhead a government recruitment drive for overseas doctors.

The aim was to recruit 450 specialists in certain areas over the next three years, but so far it has attracted only 26 senior doctors.

A separate recruitment campaign has had 5,000 expressions of interest from doctors who want to work in the NHS, but just 665 firm applications and just 19 doctors in post, all from Spain and Germany.

A census of more than 7,000 consultants across the UK, carried out by the Royal College of Physicians found many hospitals are having recruitment problems, and warned the situation is set to get worse.

The survey found the rate of consultant expansion has almost halved between 2000 and 2001 compared to the average rate between 1993 and 2000.

'Recruitment difficulties'

Dr Rodney Burnham, RCP director of medical workforce said: "The problems underlying consultant staffing and recruitment are causing great service difficulties and are likely to do so for many years."

A Department of Health spokeswoman said: "Between 1993 and 2001 there was actually a sharp increase in consultant growth rates to 7.4% in September 2001.

"Retirement trends are taken into account in workforce planning and increases delivered over the last few years are all net increases, taking account of leavers."

She added: "We are aware of recruitment difficulties to some consultant posts in a small number of specialities.

"The International Recruitment scheme generally and, in particular, International Fellowship awards are aimed at securing quality doctors into these posts until such time as the increased number of trainees reach qualification."