NHS Facing Collapse as Foreign Doctors and Nurses Shun UK Over ‘Hostile Surroundings’
Foreign doctors and nurses are increasingly avoiding the NHS due too anti-migrant rhetoric and rising racism, creating a “hostile environment” that threatens the health service, according to the leader of BritainS medics.
Jeanette Dickson, chair of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, warns that overseas health professionals now view the UK as “unwelcoming” and “racist,” influenced by the government’s immigration policies. Record numbers of foreign-born doctors are leaving the NHS, and the influx of new international recruits has stalled. Concurrently, the number of nurses and midwives joining the NHS has sharply declined.
Dickson emphasizes that without the contributions of foreign staff, the NHS risks collapse, lacking the “critical mass of people” needed to operate safely. The deterrents include antagonistic political statements towards migrants, media coverage of immigration, racist abuse from colleagues, and racist aggression from patients towards minority ethnic staff.
“My feeling is we are creating a culture were the rhetoric is ‘foreigner bad’,” Dickson stated. “Why would you go somewhere where people are going, ‘we don’t need you, we don’t want you’?” She notes a notable increase in hostility towards migrants compared to a decade ago, citing concerns over attacks on synagogues, anti-Muslim protests, and the general perception that immigration is a problem.
The NHS has long relied on overseas staff – currently,42% of UK doctors qualified abroad – but this dependence is now at its highest level. Dickson adds that some foreign-born NHS staff now feel unsafe in their daily lives due to the prevailing atmosphere.
Recent reports corroborate this,with Selina Douglas,chief executive of the Whittington health trust in London,reporting a rise in racism experienced by staff,including instances of racial abuse and even being spat at. Health Secretary Wes Streeting has warned patients that accessing healthcare does not grant them the right to abuse NHS staff.
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