Registered doctors in the United Kingdom in 2020, by world region of qualification

In 2020, the majority of doctors registered in the United Kingdom qualified in the UK. During that year, 64 percent of doctors in the UK received their qualification in the country. Furthermore, 80 percent of GPs registered in the UK were qualified in the country.The rest of doctors in the UK are made up of 8.7 percent who were qualified in the European Economic Area (EEA) and 27.5 percent who were qualified in the rest of the World.

Impact of Brexit

The share of EEA graduates in the UK doctor’s workforce in 2019 is at its lowest share in the last eight years. In 2014, there were 10.2 percent of doctors in the UK from the EEA but this has dropped annually since then. In 2019, it was found that almost 20 percent of healthcare professionals in the UK knew a colleague that was considering leaving their job due to Brexit.

Doctor’s experiences at work

In 2018, 44 percent of GPs who were surveyed reported that they have stress levels so high they feel no longer able to cope at least once a week. Additionally, 60 percent of GPs said they work over their contracted hours every day, with a further 20 percent doing this on most days. Unfortunately, the surveyed GPs were unenthusiastic for their future, with 44 percent believing that working in general practice is going to get worse in the next few years and a further 33 percent suggested things will get much worse.