Two thirds of GPs say they have considered working abroad

Exclusive Canada, Australia and New Zealand are the most popular countries for UK GPs looking to move abroad a Pulse survey has found, with two-thirds of respondents considering working overseas.

Of the more than 1,000 respondents, 41% said they’ve thought about relocating to Canada, 39% have considered going to work in Australia, and 32%, New Zealand.

Increased pay, improved conditions and a better work-life balance were cited by many GPs who said they would potentially take a job in a different country.

One GP from the northeast told Pulse: ‘My pay has been significantly eroded since I started as a GP in 2009. I do think that other countries have better working conditions and pay than the UK.’

Another Scotland-based GP said: ‘The quality of life for GPs in Australia and New Zealand is considerably better than UK general practice. I have friends who have moved, and they are thriving.

‘The lack of political understanding about the value of general practice in the UK is soul destroying.’

Findings from the survey, which ran in July, echo those of a previous Pulse poll carried out in January, which revealed that 40% of GPs saw themselves leaving UK general practice in the next five years.

Some 18% of respondents to the latest Pulse survey said they would consider relocating to the Middle East, including a GP in Essex who told Pulse she is ‘actively looking’ for work in the region after her non-medic husband secured a job there.

She said: ‘I was offered a job in Qatar last year but couldn’t move due to being pregnant. I intend to reapply this year. I do enjoy my job but the current system and the way GPs are treated in the press is unfair.

‘Due to the way the government has allocated funding I do not feel GPs can do their job properly. The whole system is draining in the UK. The workload is never-ending. The majority of patients are very grateful but the constant smearing by the government is very demeaning.’

Another GP with nine years’ service told Pulse he is on the verge of moving out to Australia, having accepted a job offer.

He said: ‘I guess the finances are a big part of the equation. However, there are a lot of other things including respect from management.

‘General practice in the UK is becoming the stopgap of all other healthcare services. The disintegration of the NHS is heart-breaking. The treatment of doctors by the Health Secretary in England is nothing short of disgraceful. I genuinely don’t think there is anything to make me stay’.

However, not all GPs think the grass is greener elsewhere. Some 32% of respondents said they had never considered working outside the UK.

A GP based in Shropshire, who has Australian citizenship, said: ‘I worked in Australia in the hospitals in the early 2000s and found the system to be extremely prejudiced, with overseas-trained doctors being given the rotations that no one else wanted.

‘I found that to complete my GP training I would have to work in a remote rural area for 10 years. So, I returned to the UK to complete my GP training.’

Many who had not thought about working in a different country said being close to retirement age or having family commitments in the UK would prevent such a move.

Commenting on Pulse’s findings, Professor Kamila Hawthorne, chair of the RCGP said: ‘General practice is facing a serious retention issue and has been for many years. Hardworking GPs, at all stages of their careers, are being pushed to breaking point by unmanageable workloads, and many are choosing to leave the profession sooner than they planned as a result.

‘We are also facing a nonsensical situation where, despite escalating need for GP care, qualified GPs are struggling to find appropriate roles within the NHS. As this survey shows, some GPs are considering leaving the UK to practise abroad.

‘We need to see urgent action to encourage GPs to stay in the profession, delivering much-needed patient care, longer – and the College has long called for enhanced local and national retention schemes, targeted at GPs at all career stages, to support this.

‘We also know that many GPs who might be considering practising abroad, will do so with the intention of returning to practise in the UK, so we need to make the process for returning as seamless and supportive as possible.

‘Being a GP is a highly rewarding career, but years of poor workforce planning and underfunding have left a substantial number of GPs are looking for other options. With the revised NHS Long Term Workforce Plan due later this year, we need it to include significant efforts to recruit more GPs, and to retain existing ones in the workforce.’