Key Summary
- Migrants utilise health services less than the UK-born population.
- They also generally contribute more via taxes and visa charges.
- And one in five NHS staff are non-British nationals.
The Health Foundation's latest report points out that contrary to common public perceptions, migrants actually utilise health services less than the UK-born population.
Citing publicly available data, the foundation said that this is because people who migrate are generally younger and healthier upon arrival, and they don’t have easy access to NHS.
In addition, it was found that migrants generally contribute more via taxes and visa charges (like the Immigration Health Surcharge) than the financial cost of the public services they consume.
Workforce share of migarants
Non-British nationals account for one in five NHS staff, making up 20 per cent of the workforce.
In the case of all hospitals doctors, non-British nationals make up over 28 per cent.
The briefing criticises recent political targets aimed at aggressively cutting international recruitment, calling them unrealistic and warning that they risk severely exacerbating existing staffing crises.
The health service is currently battling roughly 100,000 vacancies across the NHS in England alone (including a chronic shortage of 40,000 nurses).
Following the post-Brexit spike in health and care visas (2021–2023), net migration fell to an estimated 171,000 for the year ending December 2025. The authors argue the NHS requires a more stable, fair, and long-term domestic and international recruitment strategy.
The report highlights that the current migrant charging framework causes inequalities and can lead to worse long-term health outcomes by delaying necessary medical interventions.
Public Perception vs reality
Health Foundation polling reveals that the British public routinely overestimates both the volume of NHS services used by migrants and their actual share of the workforce.
In general, the public does not see immigration as one of the main causes of pressures facing the NHS. Only 22 percent concur to this view, while people are more likely to see lack of funding (37 percent), poor NHS management (36 percent), lack of staff (29 percent) and other factors as drivers.
However, driven by political rhetoric, public anxiety regarding migration has jumped five-folds from 6 per cent naming it a top issue in 2022 to 32 per cent in 2026.
This growing anxiety has begun to slightly erode traditional public backing for the core principle of the NHS being universally "available to everyone."
A recent survey also showed that two in five or 43 percent of the international health staff are considering leaving the country. This is happening in a landscape with rising racism and abuse cases targeted towards healthcare professionals.
Last year, NHS leaders, senior doctors and the General Medical Council (GMC) raised concerns over the exodus of foreign-trained doctors and nurses from the UK, and warned it could leave huge gaps in the country's healthcare workforce.
