Kemi Badenoch has warned that the NHS is too reliant on foreign medics and called for more British doctors and nurses to be trained. The Conservative leader said it is “very strange” that the UK “cannot staff” a national institution like the NHS with “homegrown people”.
Call for more homegrown staff
Speaking to LBC, Mrs Badenoch said: “It's not normal. I think it's very strange. How can it be that we have an NHS that this country is supposedly proud of, and yet we cannot staff it with homegrown people?”
She added: “Of course, we will need people from other countries from time to time, but if you're telling me that the NHS will collapse without immigration, it means it's not structured properly.”
Mrs Badenoch also suggested that nurses should be paid more to encourage more British people into the profession, and hinted that the Tories could scrap the requirement for nurses to have a degree.
NHS workforce statistics
Foreign nationals from 216 countries work in the NHS, according to research compiled by the House of Commons Library. Around 30% of nurses are not British, with NHS figures showing 247,850 of the 370,957 full-time health visitors are British. Some 42,169 Indians, 25,000 Filipinos and 12,646 Nigerians hold these roles.
For doctors, the proportion from abroad rises to around 36%. Some 98,130 doctors are British, compared to 57,980 from overseas, including 12,680 from India, 6,315 from Pakistan and 4,397 from Egypt. The number of African and Asian foreign nationals in the NHS has doubled since 2010.
Union warnings and retention issues
Union leaders told Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood that a crackdown on migrant settlement rights could lead to an exodus of staff, hitting patient care. Health groups warned the move could lead to tens of thousands of foreign doctors and nurses leaving.
The Nuffield Trust warned of “significant retention issues”, estimating that fewer than three in five doctors (56%) in core training remained in NHS hospital and community services in England eight years later, with 24% of this attrition seen in the first two years.
The Royal College of GPs told an inquiry by the Home Affairs Select Committee: “It is integral to acknowledge that the NHS workforce is currently heavily dependent on overseas recruitment to fill workforce gaps, without which the service would struggle to operate.” The Royal College of Nursing suggested foreign nurses should be given a faster route to settlement.
Mrs Badenoch said she is focusing on removing barriers to nursing for domestic workers, including the degree requirement. She said: “We are actively looking at it. We had a similar issue in the police. That's changed.” She added that the Conservatives are worried about a “lost generation” facing disappearing jobs and rising unemployment.
