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NHS could face ‘huge holes’ if internationally qualified doctors continue to leave workforce
UK health services could be left with ‘huge holes’ if a trend for internationally qualified doctors to leave the workforce gathers pace, the General Medical Council (GMC) revealed in a new report. Data in the regulator’s The state of medical education and practice in the UK: workforce report 2025 show that notably greater numbers of non-UK qualified doctors left practice last year. 4,880 doctors, who obtained their primary medical qualification outside of the UK and who had been working in the UK, left in 2024 – a 26% increase on the previous year’s 3,869.
It is the first significant year-on-year rise since the pandemic, with 3,968 non-UK qualified doctors leaving in 2022 and 3,824 in 2021. Doctors who qualified outside of the UK currently make up around 42% of the workforce. Last year also saw a levelling off in the number
of international medics joining. 20,060 non-UK qualified doctors joined, only slightly up on the 19,629 in 2023, and a much smaller increase than in previous years going back to the pandemic in 2020. Those who did join were less likely to secure
employment. Of those who took UK registration after passing the GMC’s exam for international joiners last year, only around one in eight connected to a designated body – an indicator they are working as a doctor – within six months.
That figure was one in five in 2023, and one in four in 2021 and 2022. The UK government’s 10-Year Health Plan for England, published earlier this year, committed to prioritising UK medical graduates for postgraduate training places. GMC Chief Executive, Charlie Massey, said that building a more sustainable system, that meets the needs of the workforce, as well as patients, is welcome but that the wider impact on a current workforce, that is heavily reliant on doctors from all over the world, must be considered. Mr Massey said: “Doctors represent a mobile
workforce, whose skills are in high demand around the world. Internationally qualified doctors who have historically chosen to work in the UK could
quite conceivably choose to leave if they feel they have no future job progression here, or if the country feels less welcoming. Any hardening of rhetoric and falling away of support could undermine the UK’s image as somewhere the brightest and the best from all over the world want to work.
“It is vital that workforce policies do not
inadvertently demoralise or drive out the talent on which our health services depend. Doctors who qualified outside of the UK make up 42% of those working in the UK. If we see even a small percentage increase in them leaving, our health services will end up with huge holes that they’ll struggle to fill.” This problem would be compounded in general
practice, central to the UK government’s vision for neighbourhood health services, where half of first- year trainees in 2024 qualified outside of the UK. Mr Massey added: “Whatever the future makeup
of the workforce, we all – from employers to regulators, policymakers to the profession itself – have a duty to recognise the essential contribution all doctors make, irrespective of background, and to ensure that each one is supported and valued accordingly. That’s crucial for the professionals providing care but, also, most importantly, for the patients receiving it.”
Diabetes increases risk of complications after stent surgery
Patients with diabetes have an increased risk of complications after stent implantation, according to a study from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. The study, which included over 160,000 patients, emphasised the importance of tailoring treatment strategies for this specific patient group. Researchers conducted a comprehensive study to
investigate the risk of stent complications in patients with diabetes. The study consisted of data from over 160,000 patients who received drug-eluting stents between 2010 and 2020. The patients were divided into three groups: type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes, and patients without diabetes. The results showed that patients with type 1
diabetes have more than twice the risk of stent complications compared to patients without diabetes. For patients with type 2 diabetes, the risk is also elevated, but not as significantly. Complications include both narrowing of the artery in the stent and blood clots in the stent. “Our results show that people with diabetes,
especially type 1 diabetes, have a much higher risk of stent complications. Therefore, it is important to
carefully consider how we treat these patients,” said first author, Irene Santos-Pardo, researcher at the Department of Clinical Science and Education, Södersjukhuset, Karolinska Institutet. The study also showed that the risk of stent complications is highest during the first few months after stent implantation. During the first month, the incidence of stent complications was 9.27 per 100 person-years for patients with type 1 diabetes, compared with 4.34 for patients without
diabetes. After six months, the risk decreased but remained higher for patients with diabetes. “We need to continue to investigate how we
can improve treatment for patients with diabetes who undergo stent implantation. Our results indicate that there is a need to adapt treatment and follow-up for them,” said co-author, Thomas Nyström, Professor at the Department of Clinical Science and Education, Karolinska Institutet. Visit:
https://doi.org/10.2337/dc25-1624
January 2026 I
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