As reported by the National Health Executive, the General Medical Council has warned that the UK could face significant staffing pressures if the rising number of internationally trained doctors leaving the workforce is not addressed
Its latest State of Medical Education and Practice in the UK: Workforce Report 2025 shows that 4,880 non-UK qualified doctors stopped practising in 2024 – a sharp 26% jump from 2023. It is the first substantial increase in departures since the pandemic, following relatively stable exit figures in previous years.
International recruitment, meanwhile, appears to be slowing. Just over 20,000 overseas-trained doctors joined the UK workforce in 2024, only a marginal increase on the 19,629 reported the year before, marking a noticeable cooling compared with earlier growth.
The GMC notes that the issue is particularly pronounced in general practice, a cornerstone of the government’s neighbourhood health plans, where half of new GP trainees last year were trained outside the UK.
With overseas-qualified doctors now accounting for around 42% of the medical workforce, the regulator says the trend poses a serious risk to the stability of UK health services.
The government’s Ten-Year Health Plan for England, released earlier this year, gives priority to UK medical graduates for postgraduate training. While GMC chief executive Charlie Massey said efforts to strengthen domestic training pipelines are welcome, he stressed that policymakers must recognise the consequences for a system that has long depended on international doctors.
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