Ministers' plans to reduce the NHS's reliance on international recruitment to 10% by 2035 appear overambitious, according to a report by the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on global health and security. The report reveals that the health service in England has saved more than £14bn by recruiting doctors, nurses and midwives from overseas.
The APPG inquiry found that many countries from which the UK recruits are themselves struggling with staff shortages. The UK has a moral duty to offer support rather than simply extracting healthcare workers, the group said. Currently, 36% of UK doctors and 24% of nurses and midwives were trained abroad.
Andrew Mitchell, the former development minister who chaired the inquiry, said the NHS has not operated at the proposed level of international recruitment for decades. Overseas staff will be needed 'for the foreseeable future', the APPG added.
The report recommends a fairer system where international recruitment is offset by proportionate investment in health workforce development in partner countries. 'A model based on partnership rather than extraction offers a path that aligns moral responsibility with national interest,' the report states.
Dr Beccy Cooper, the APPG's chair, said: 'International health workers are part of the NHS's DNA. Supporting homegrown talent and ethical international recruitment are not competing goals – they are both essential.'
