Several NHS Trusts in Britain are heading for crisis and senior doctors and nurses seeking lucrative post in the Middle East and Australia
The National Health Services (NHS) in Britain is facing a brain drain crisis as more and more senior doctors seeking permission to take lucrative jobs in the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand.
The main reason for leaving the jobs is poor salary. The struggle to maintain a quality life-work balance also prompting doctors to leave NHS jobs.
New figures show 4,700 have applied to the General Medical Council for certificates that let them practise abroad, the Sunday Mirror reported. The Certificates of Good Standing allow doctors to register with another country’s regulatory body or employer.
It comes as hospitals are forced to send teams of managers abroad to recruit doctors and nurses to fill huge staffing gaps.
Doctors’ leaders warned of their alarm that taxpayers’ money was being spent on training graduates to qualify to practise, only for them to leave the NHS. Australia is among the top destinations for British doctors, with 729 granted certificates that allow them to work there last year. Abu Dhabi and Dubai are favourite destinations for consultants and nursing staff.
The Australian Medical Council has awarded Certificates of Advanced Standing to more than 5,500 UK doctors since 2006. New Zealand is also a popular destination for UK-trained doctors, with 469 added to the country’s medical register in 2013 and 511 in 2012.
Figures from the Nursing and Midwifery Council show the number coming from the rest of the EU to work in Britain has doubled in four years. Almost 21,000 are now on the register for work in hospitals and care homes, up from 10,244 in 2010.
Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt also faces a fresh problem after nurses, midwives and paramedics voted last week for strike action in a row over pay.