One in five NHS doctors considering leaving UK profession

The Government’s pledge to cut hospital waiting lists is at risk unless more is done to retain doctors in the NHS, the medical regulator has warned.

Almost one in five (19%) of doctors are considering quitting being a doctor in the UK, the General Medical Council (GMC) said.

And one in eight (12%) are considering leaving the UK to work abroad, according to GMC figures.

The main reason given for considering a move abroad was that doctors are “treated better” in other countries, with an increase in pay cited as the second most common reason for plans to emigrate.

Overall, some 43% of doctors told the GMC that they had researched career opportunities in other countries.

Some 15% of doctors reported they had taken “hard steps” towards leaving UK practice – such as applying for roles overseas or contacting recruiters.

“We must be alive to the ongoing risks to retention of doctors and the impact of losing talented staff,” the authors of the GMC’s latest report wrote.

“This could threaten Government ambitions to reduce waiting times and deliver better care to patients.”

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has pledged that, by July 2029, 92% of patients will be seen within 18 weeks for routine hospital treatment such as hip and knee replacements.

The GMC’s latest report also raised concerns about career progression for medics.

The report highlighted that 8% of doctors who felt they could progress their career said they were likely to leave the UK medical profession and had taken hard steps towards doing so, compared with 27% of those who did not feel this way.

Overall one in three doctors said they are unable to progress their education, training and careers in the way they want, according to the report, which is based on responses from 4,697 doctors around the UK.

It found that those who did not feel as though their careers were progressing the way they would wish were at higher risk of burnout and were less satisfied with their work.

The GMC said that workloads, competition for posts, and lack of senior support for development are adversely impacting career hopes for UK doctors.

Charlie Massey, chief executive of the GMC, said: “Like any profession, doctors who are disillusioned with their careers will start looking elsewhere.

“Doctors need to be satisfied, supported, and see a hopeful future for themselves, or we may risk losing their talent and expertise altogether.

“Achieving this requires modernising the current training system, so it meets the needs of doctors and patients.”

It comes as Health Secretary Wes Streeting and the British Medical Association are locked in talks to avert further strike action by resident doctors after a five-day walkout in July.

Resident doctors, formerly known as junior doctors, are in a dispute with the Government over pay and a lack of places for doctors in training.

Commenting on the GMC report, Billy Palmer, senior fellow at the Nuffield Trust think tank, said: “Pay and industrial action have been a lightning rod for dissatisfaction among doctors but this survey puts a spotlight on the wider difficulties facing the medical profession.

“Job guarantees, better rotas and placements, and protection of training time all need to be on the table.

“Addressing the burden of medical graduates’ student debt by gradually writing off loans could also be a promising way to reward doctors’ NHS service. With fewer than three in five doctors in ‘core training’ remaining in the NHS eight years later, unless warnings from this survey are dealt with, we’ll continue to lose these skilled clinicians.”

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “The findings in this report are further evidence of what we know, that after more than a decade of neglect, doctors have legitimate complaints about their conditions, including issues with training bottlenecks and career progression.

“We want to work with them to address these and improve their working lives, which includes our plans set out in the 10 Year Health Plan to prioritise UK graduates and increase speciality training posts.

“This Government is committed to improving career opportunities and working conditions, bringing in ways to recognise and reward talent – as well as freeing up clinicians’ time by cutting red tape.”

Published: 07/08/2025 by Radio NewsHub