In major shift in healthcare policy, the UK government will unveil a new plan on Thursday aimed at slashing the number of overseas-trained doctors and nurses recruited by the National Health Service (NHS) in England. The policy, part of a 10-year strategy to reform the NHS workforce, places UK medical graduates at the center of future hiring efforts.
Under the new directive, NHS hospitals and GP practices will be instructed to reduce the share of international medical recruits from the current 34% to under 10%, in a bid to curb the health service’s growing dependence on foreign-trained professionals. The government says this will open more career pathways for British-trained doctors who currently face intense competition for specialty training positions.
Career Crisis for UK-Trained Doctors
Recent data shows nearly 20,000 UK medical graduates are being denied access to specialist training due to limited positions, despite completing years of medical education. The British Medical Association has described the situation as a “career limbo,” with many graduates unable to secure the first step needed to become general practitioners or consultants.
The government’s long-term plan acknowledges that the current situation — allowing international graduates to compete on equal footing with UK-trained doctors — has intensified competition for limited training places. It states that from 2019 to 2024, the ratio of applications to available postgraduate positions jumped from 1.9 to nearly five per place.
Global Healthcare Shortage a Growing Concern
The plan also highlights a projected global shortfall of 11 million healthcare workers by 2030, due to population growth and aging. It warns that continued reliance on foreign staff will become unsustainable — and unethical — particularly when sourcing from “red list” countries in Asia and Africa, as designated by the World Health Organization (WHO).
These red list nations, including India, Nigeria, and the Philippines, are already under strain, and the UK’s recruitment from such regions has drawn criticism. Health Secretary Wes Streeting called recruitment from poorer nations “immoral,” citing the damage to fragile healthcare systems abroad.
Policy Reforms to Prioritize Domestic Talent
The 10-year NHS workforce plan commits to fixing structural bottlenecks in the training pipeline. It pledges to expand postgraduate training capacity in line with increased undergraduate places and to give preference to British-trained graduates and long-serving NHS doctors when allocating specialty posts.
Currently, out of 329,439 doctors registered with the General Medical Council, 57.2% were trained in the UK, 7.8% in the European Economic Area, and 34.9% elsewhere — largely in Asia and Africa.
By prioritizing local medical talent, the UK aims to build a more self-sufficient NHS and address the long-standing imbalance in its recruitment strategy.
