SUSHRUTA
Journal of Health Policy &Opinions
The Invaluable Contribution of Overseas Doctors to the NHS
Derek Bell OBE
President, Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh
Key words
Overseas doctors, NHS workforce, RCPEdin
Cite as: Bell, D. The invaluable contribution of overseas doctors to the NHS. Sushruta 2019
Nov vol12(1): 16 DOI: 10.38192/12.1.8
The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh represents thousands of Fellows and Members
across the world, many of whom have international roots. That is something the College is
immensely proud of, and we take every opportunity we can to celebrate that diversity.
Indeed, the College has deep international roots, supporting international doctors through
the Medical Training Initiative (MTI) and the International Medical Training Fellowship
Programme (IMTF). We have an international Vice-President, who engages with our
international Fellows and Members, and feeds their views back to the very heart of College
decision making. The College does all it can to promote international doctors and their
importance to the NHS in the UK - and this goes right to the heart of our policy work on the
NHS workforce.
As you will be aware, recruitment and retention of staff is one of the most important roles
of any health service. Yet in the UK, there are a range of barriers and challenges to fulling
this vital task. Factors such as rota gaps, early retirement, medical student dropout rates,
pension changes, poor working environment and Brexit have all impacted NHS recruitment
and retention in one way or another.
Worryingly, nearly half (48%) of medical consultants in the UK are expected to reach 60 years
of age within the next decade. And 40% of medical consultants will reach the intended
retirement age of 62 years and 3 months, within the next 10 years. That’s according to Focus
on Physicians 2018, the annual census survey conducted by the Royal College of Physicians of
Edinburgh and its sister Colleges in London and Glasgow. And according to the GMC National
Training Surveys for 2019, one in four junior doctors is worried about burnout due to a heavy
workload. This points major challenges at both the early and later stages of a doctor’s career.
The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh supports the increase in medical school places
to meet future service requirements, however this will take over a decade to impact on
numbers of doctors and current staffing levels still need to be addressed. The College is keen
to support initiatives aimed at recruiting international and European medical staff - and in
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