Portrait of Wes Streeting
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Wes Streeting on Foreign Doctors

Prioritises UK graduates (strong)

TL;DR

Wes Streeting supports prioritising UK-trained doctors for training places over overseas graduates to manage migration.

Key Points

  • He proposed changes to international recruitment, aiming to prioritise UK medical graduates for speciality training roles by 2027, but seeking to act more urgently if legally possible.

  • He acknowledged that foreign-born doctors constitute 42% of the UK medical workforce and are currently overrepresented among applicants for training places.

  • In late 2025, he issued a strong warning against racism, stating the NHS has zero tolerance for abuse against staff, including foreign-born workers.

Summary

Wes Streeting, as Health Secretary, has taken a strong position regarding the training pathways for international medical graduates (IMGs) versus UK-trained doctors. He has explicitly stated his intention to end the practice where homegrown talent competes equally against those who trained overseas for the same training positions, which he described as "crackers" and unfair to UK doctors. This policy shift is also linked to his stated goal of reducing unmanageable levels of net migration, acknowledging that two-thirds of the 30,000 doctors applying for training places were IMGs in a recent round.

While his stated policy aims to support domestic training, this stance has implications for the reliance on foreign doctors who currently form 42% of the UK workforce. Concerns have been raised that hardening rhetoric or policies favouring UK graduates could make the UK appear less welcoming, potentially prompting foreign-born staff to leave and creating "huge holes" in NHS workforce capacity. In response to broader issues of abuse against international staff, he has also stated a zero-tolerance policy for racism and affirmed the NHS benefits hugely from its international staff, balancing the push for domestic priority with the need for existing foreign workers.

Frequently Asked Questions

Wes Streeting's position is centred on prioritising UK-trained doctors for specialty training posts over international medical graduates. He sees this as necessary to support homegrown talent and manage net migration levels, according to statements made in late 2025. However, he has also stated that the NHS benefits hugely from its international staff and has a zero-tolerance policy for racism against them.

The available information suggests a shift toward favouring domestic training pipelines, as he called the previous system of equal competition for training places "crackers" in November 2025. This policy direction on training competition contrasts with the historical necessity of international recruitment, which he acknowledges remains vital for staffing.

In late 2025, Wes Streeting expressed shock at rising levels of racism impacting NHS staff, particularly those from minority ethnic backgrounds. He warned that accessing free healthcare does not grant patients the freedom to abuse staff on any grounds, affirming a zero-tolerance stance against such discrimination.