UK to Cut NHS Foreign Recruitment to Under 10% by 2035 in New Health Plan: Here is Plan Breakdown

LONDON July 6: UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has unveiled a new 10-year NHS workforce plan aiming to significantly reduce reliance on overseas healthcare workers. Under the new policy, the proportion of foreign recruits in the NHS will be cut to below 10% by 2035.

The NHS has historically relied heavily on international staff, with Indian nationals forming the largest overseas group.

“While the NHS has always welcomed international talent, the system is now overly dependent on foreign recruitment,” the plan states. “Our goal is to shift this balance, reducing international recruits to under 10% by 2035.”

To support this transition, UK medical graduates will be prioritised for both foundation and specialty training positions. The plan criticises the 2020 policy that opened postgraduate training places to international applicants on equal footing with UK graduates, claiming it has led to unacceptably high competition for limited posts.

However, the plan has faced criticism. Ramesh Mehta, president of the British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (BAPIO), argued the targets are unrealistic. He pointed out that around one-third of UK-trained medical graduates left the country last year for opportunities in countries like New Zealand, Canada, and Australia.

“The demand for medical staff is only going to increase. Without retaining UK graduates and with continued emigration, there simply won’t be enough domestic doctors to fill the gap,” Mehta warned. “The plan’s authors are living in a dreamland.”

Mehta also noted that nearly 10,000 Indian doctors came to the UK last year to take screening exams, but many have returned home due to a lack of job opportunities and training posts. He stressed that placements should be awarded based on merit and commitment to the NHS, not nationality.

Here Is How The 10 Year Health Plan for England Breaks Down

2025–2026

• New workforce model: Begin implementation of a new NHS workforce model based on capability,
• Clinical trials: Reduce clinical trial set-up times to 150 days by March 2026,
• Surgical innovation: Expand adoption of robotic surgery in line with NICE guidance, aiming for one in eight operations to use surgical robots by 2035,
• NHS leadership model: Launch a new leadership and culture model focused on accountability and team-based care,
• Digital front door: Begin upgrades to the NHS App, laying groundwork for a unified digital entry point to the NHS,
• League tables: Start publishing simple, comparable provider performance tables from summer 2025.

2026–2027

• New GP contracts: Begin rollout of two new GP contracts, one place-based and one list-based, to encourage wider collaboration and patient access,
• Care plans: Ensure 95 per cent of people with complex needs have an agreed care plan in place by 2027,
• Prevention shift: Begin integrated delivery of public health services with Integrated Care Boards prioritising prevention and early intervention,
• NHS App functions: Expand functionality of the NHS App for greater self-management of care.

2027–2028

• NHS App transformation: Transform the NHS App into a comprehensive digital front door to the NHS by 2028,
• Urgent care navigation: Enable booking into appropriate urgent care settings (e.g., via 111 or the NHS App) before physical attendance,
• Personal health budgets: Continue scaling personal health budgets with a focus on supporting independence and choice.

2028–2031

• Productivity improvements: Deliver at least 2 per cent productivity gains year-on-year for three consecutive years,
• Workforce training: Expand medical specialty training and nursing apprenticeships focused on system needs and future demands,
• AI-enabled workforce: Redesign education and training curricula to embed AI and digital literacy throughout the NHS,
• Financial sustainability: Shift the majority of providers into financial surplus by 2030, supported by robust five-year planning

2029–2030

• Personal health budgets: Aim to reach one million individuals benefiting from a personal health budget by 2030,
• Outcomes-focused funding: Advance new payment models, including year-of-care payments, focused on patient outcomes

2030–2035

• Wearable technology: Make wearable health technologies a standard part of chronic disease and recovery pathways by 2035,
• Outpatient reform: Radically redesign or phase out traditional hospital outpatient models by 2035,
• Digital hospitals: Ensure all hospitals are fully AI-enabled and digital-first by the end of the plan,
• Integrated governance: Align Integrated Care Boards more closely with local democratic structures, where feasible,
• Genomics and prevention: Deliver a population-wide genomics service focused on prevention, with access for all communities by 2035.

CLICK TO READ THE 10 YEAR PLAN IN DETAIL