Unprecedented numbers of internationally qualified physicians are leaving the UK, leaving the NHS at danger of huge shortages in its workforce, with negative attitudes towards migrants being blamed for the exodus.
Sharp Rise in Departures
Altogether, 4,880 doctors who qualified in overseas left the UK during 2024 – a increase 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 cautioned that growing criticism of and abuse directed at international staff in the UK was a major reason for the rise in overseas doctors departing.
Industry Leaders Express Worry
“It’s extremely concerning that so many highly skilled and highly valued overseas physicians the NHS just cannot do without are departing in their droves,” said a hospitals group chief executive.
“We could not operate an NHS if we had not for many years brought in talented and appreciated individuals from all around the world. The diversity of the NHS staff is one of its biggest assets.”
A senior medical representative stated: “Doctors who trained overseas have for many years constituted a significant portion of the NHS workforce, and healthcare in the UK would have already collapsed without them.”
“But as we alerted recently, a ongoing trend of anti-migrant rhetoric is leaving many doctors with a migrant heritage considering if it is worth staying.”
Government and Regulatory Reaction
The health secretary voiced alarm this month that NHS employees were bearing the brunt of a resurgence to historical discrimination in Britain where it is “tolerated to be prejudiced”.
The increase in overseas doctors quitting coincided with a stabilization in the figure coming to work in Britain, the GMC’s yearly analysis on the state of doctor training and work in the UK for 2024 indicated.
Staffing Statistics and Patterns
- Over twenty thousand who entered the UK medical register in 2024 were only a few more 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 doctor staff trained overseas.
“Overseas-trained physicians who have historically chosen to work in the UK could quite conceivably decide to leave if they feel they have no future job progression here, or if the country seems unfriendly,” said Charlie Massey.
“Any hardening of discourse and decline of backing could undermine the UK’s image as a place the most talented individuals from globally would want to work.”
Job Challenges and Government Impact
The stagnation in overseas physicians arriving to the UK may be because such medics are finding it harder to secure employment, the GMC said.
- Just 12.5% who joined the register in the UK last year “found a designated body” – ie, got a post within the NHS – within six months.
- That was down on the one in five who did so in 2023 and one in four in 2022.
The shortage in positions offered for junior physicians to start training in their chosen medical specialism has led the authorities to assign more of them to domestically qualified medics.
But the GMC’s report warns ministers that that approach, combined with the difficulty of finding a job, may be misguided by discouraging overseas doctors from relocating to the UK.
“It is vital that staffing policies across all four [UK] countries do not inadvertently demoralise or push away the skilled professionals on which our medical system depend”, stated the GMC chief and the regulatory head.
