Pay, Policy, Pressure: Why Indian Doctors Are Quitting UK

India and the UK share deep ties in history, food, and architecture but their strongest link, healthcare professionals, is fraying under UK policy pressures. What was once a dream destination for Indian doctors and nurses is now a launchpad to greener pastures, if reports are to be believed.

Senior Indian-origin NHS doctors reveal a mass exodus driven not by clinical dissatisfaction but by financial strain and immigration hurdles.

Indian government data tabled in Parliament's Winter Session shows Health and Care Worker visas for Indians plunged 67%, with nurses hit hardest at 79%, reports news agency PTI.

"Many Indian health pros are leaving for Australia, Canada, and the Middle East higher pay, clearer long-term paths," NHS cardiologist Rajay Narain, with 20+ years' experience, told PTI.

He lamented the NHS's decline from its 1948 post-WWII glory, when Indian medical training mirrored British standards and degrees were GMC-recognised until 1975. Today, long patient waits, salaries lagging Europe, high living costs, and taxes erode appeal. "Some British-Indians are even returning to India," Dr. Narain added.

Radiologist Sanjay Gandhi, a 35-year NHS veteran and professor at a major UK teaching hospital, echoed this to the news agency. Successive governments' net migration cuts failing on illegals hammer legal NHS workers. Local medical graduates surge, but training posts don't, fueling competition. The GMC now limits costly PLAB tests, essential for Indian grads to register and practice. "Securing jobs or even attachments is brutal even for UK grads, posts draw hundreds of applications in hours," he said.

UK 2024 data pegs Asian/Asian British staff at 13% of the NHS workforce (16% full-time, 8% part-time), but Gandhi predicts a drop. He knows six colleagues who bolted to Australia or New Zealand in three years. Top consultants face 45% income tax, 2% National Insurance, and 12.5% pension contributions on earnings over GBP 65,191 worsening the squeeze.

Post-COVID, financial woes plague the NHS, with trusts slashing agency staff for sustainable hires, pulmonologist Manish Gautam said. "Pandemic spending on temps covered shortages, but now productivity drives favour locals. UK experience is gold, yet opportunities shrink," he told PTI.

Historical bonds right from Empire-era training to NHS reliance on Indian talent, can't stem the tide. Better pay, lower taxes, and stability abroad lure professionals away, threatening NHS staffing amid savings mandates.

(With inputs from PTI.)