Unprecedented figures of internationally qualified physicians are leaving the UK, leaving the National Health Service at risk of significant gaps in its staffing, with negative attitudes towards foreign workers being blamed for the departure.
Significant Rise in Exits
Altogether, 4,880 doctors who trained in another country left the UK during 2024 – a rise of 26% on the 3,869 who did so the previous year – figures from the General Medical Council show.
NHS leaders, experienced physicians and the GMC warned that increased criticism of and mistreatment directed at international staff in the UK was a significant factor for the increase in overseas doctors leaving.
Sector Executives Voice Concern
“It’s extremely concerning that so many highly skilled and much appreciated international doctors the NHS just can’t afford to lose are leaving in their large numbers,” said a hospitals group chief executive.
“We wouldn’t have an NHS if we had not for many years brought in skilled and appreciated people from overseas. The variety of the NHS workforce is one of its biggest assets.”
A senior medical representative stated: “Physicians who qualified overseas have long constituted a significant portion of the NHS workforce, and healthcare in the UK would have long since collapsed without them.”
“But as we alerted recently, a ongoing campaign of anti-migrant rhetoric is causing many physicians with a migrant background considering if it is worth staying.”
Political and Oversight Reaction
Wes Streeting voiced alarm recently that NHS employees were suffering the impact of a resurgence to historical racism in Britain where it is “socially acceptable to be prejudiced”.
The increase in foreign physicians leaving occurred alongside a levelling-off in the number arriving to work in Britain, the medical regulator’s annual report on the condition of doctor training and practice in the UK for 2024 indicated.
Staffing Data and Patterns
- The 20,060 who joined the UK physician database last year were just slightly higher than the 19,629 who did so in 2023.
- This represented the lowest increase since 2020.
- The GMC’s findings have caused alarm because the NHS is so heavily reliant on doctors from elsewhere – 42% of its whole medical workforce trained internationally.
“Overseas-trained physicians who have traditionally opted to work in the UK could quite conceivably choose to depart if they feel they have no future job progression here, or if the country feels unfriendly,” stated Charlie Massey.
“Any hardening of discourse and falling away of backing could damage the UK’s reputation as a place the most talented individuals from all over the world would want to work.”
Job Challenges and Policy Effects
The stagnation in foreign doctors coming to the UK may be because such medics are having difficulty to secure employment, the GMC explained.
- Only one in eight who became registered in the UK in 2024 “connected to a NHS post” – ie, got a position within the NHS – within six months.
- That was lower on the 20% who did so in 2023 and one in four in 2022.
The shortage in positions offered for junior physicians to begin specializing in their chosen medical specialism has prompted the government to allocate a greater share of them to UK-trained medics.
But the GMC’s report warns policymakers that that approach, combined with the difficulty of securing a job, may be ill-advised by discouraging international physicians from relocating to the UK.
“It is vital that staffing plans across all four [UK] nations do not accidentally discourage or drive out the talent on which our medical system depend”, wrote Massey and the GMC chair.
