The number of foreign nurses and midwives coming to the UK is falling, figures show, blamed on rising racism and changes to immigration rules.
Between April and September, 6,321 nurses and midwives from overseas joined the register to practice in the UK, compared with 12,534 who did so during the same period in 2024.
At the same time, more foreign workers are leaving the UK, according to workforce data published by the Institute of Nursing and Nursing. Obstetrics Council (NMC).
Health organizations said the trends would make it harder for an already understaffed NHS to deliver the care expected of it and that patients would have to wait even longer for treatment.
Susie Bailey, National Health Service A workforce expert at think tank King's Fund said: “The sharp decline in international recruitment and retention of nurses and midwives should ring alarm bells for policymakers, health and care leaders and the people who rely on health and care services.”
The changes identified by the NMC reflect changes occurring among doctors trained abroad. They are leaving the UK in record numbers and the surge in overseas-trained doctors joining the NHS has slowed in recent years, according to a General Medical Council report published last month.
NHS groups said a rising tide of hostility towards migrants and the government's tough changes to immigration rules were behind an apparent shunning of the UK as a destination country. The length of time foreign workers must wait before being allowed to apply for indefinite leave or receive any benefits has doubled from five to ten years. critics say panders to Nigel Farage's anti-immigration Reform UK party.
Louis Horne, Unison's national nursing officer, said: “For decades, nurses and midwives from around the world have brought invaluable skills to the NHS. To lose this contribution to vital services would be catastrophic. It exposes the damage caused by the Government's unfair and ill-conceived immigration changes. A rethink of these policies is urgently needed.”
Wes Streeting, Minister of Health, said last month that NHS staff had borne the brunt of what he described as a return to the “ugly” racism of the 1970s and 1980s in Britain.
Overseas employees may also choose to travel to other countries due to higher salaries or as a result of the NHS's push to recruit more home-trained staff, according to the NMC. Paul Rees, the regulator's chief executive and registrar, said: “The era of rapid growth in international recruitment appears to be coming to an end.”
Between April and September, 58% fewer nurses and midwives joined the NMC register from India, which supplies the largest number of foreign nurses to the National Health Service.
Over the same period, the number of nurses coming to the UK from the Philippines fell by 68%, from Nigeria by 28% and from Ghana by 9%.
Despite these trends, the total number of nurses, midwives and paramedics on the register has risen to 860,801, the highest ever. A record 96,593 (12%) are men.
