Key Summary
- Between April and September, nurses and midwives from India joined the NMC register fell by 58 percent
- India supplies the highest number of foreign nurses in the NHS
- Over the same period, the number of nurses arriving from the Philippines fell by 68 percent, and Nigeria (28 percent)
There has been a significant decline in the number of foreign nurses and midwives seeking employment in the UK.
Between April and September, 6,321 nurses and midwives from abroad joined the register of those licensed to practice in the UK, compared with 12,534 who did so in the same period in 2024.
The new immigration rules that make it difficult for overseas workers to settle in the UK, and rising racism, are being blamed for this trend.
At the same time, there has been an increase in the international staff leaving Britain, according to workforce data published by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).
Between April and September, nurses and midwives from India joined the NMC register fell by 58 percent. India supplies the highest number of foreign nurses in the NHS.
Over the same period, the number of nurses arriving from the Philippines fell by 68 percent, Nigeria (28 percent) and Ghana (9 percent).
Despite these trends, the total number of nurses, midwives and nursing associates on the register has grown to 860,801, the highest number ever. And a record 96,593 (12 percent) are men.
The recent General Medical Council (GMC) figures also show that 4,880 doctors who qualified in another country left the UK during 2024 – a rise of 26 percent from 3,869, who did so in the preceding year.
The number of overseas-trained doctors joining the NHS has also plateaued, it added.
NHS staff groups claim the rising hostility towards migrants fomented by Nigel Farage and his Reform party, and the tightening of immigration rules has diminished UK's prospects among the overseas healthcare workers.
Health secretary Wes Streeting had last month remarked that the NHS staff were facing the “ugly” 1970s and 1980s-style racism in Britain.
Kier Starmer government is facing flak for tightening the rules for overseas workers, and critics accuse him of pandering to Farage.
