The RCP has responded to the General Medical Council’s State of medical education and practice in the UK: workforce report 2025.
Professor Mumtaz Patel, president of the Royal College of Physicians, said:
"This GMC report describes an NHS that is struggling to retain both international and UK-trained colleagues. For the first time we are seeing a statistically significant rise in international graduates leaving the NHS, while among UK graduates, there was a 19% increase in NHS leavers aged 20–29. This aligns with our next generation campaign findings: resident doctors across the board feel undervalued and unable to progress in their NHS careers.
"International medical graduates are a vital part of our health service. They fill rota gaps, provide continuity of care, contribute to research and training, and many work for years in locally employed roles before securing a training place. Any changes to the postgraduate training system must acknowledge their contribution and avoid creating barriers that could unintentionally deter them from coming to – or staying in – the NHS, and if the government intends to reduce international recruitment to less than 10% by 2035, it must maintain the commitment to an expansion of UK medical school places, alongside an expansion of both IMT and higher specialty training posts based on population need.
"We are also concerned by the continued fall in the proportion of UK-trained doctors securing a training place – down from 83% in 2014 to 69% last year – alongside rising competition ratios and growing frustration among resident doctors. In July, we welcomed the government’s commitment to ensure doctors leaving medical school in the UK can continue their training in the NHS and the 10 Year Workforce Plan must set out how it will deliver that promise."