The New Zealand government claimed that it saw a surge in interest from UK health workers looking into the possibility of emigrating following the vote to leave the European Union.
Recruitment companies told Pulse that they had seen an increase in GPs making enquiries after the referendum.
The weekend after the referendum, 225 British health workers registered an interest in a move to New Zealand, compared to only 57 the week before and one medical recruitment agency had a 30% increase in the number of health professionals contacting them.
Just after the Brexit vote, Immigration New Zealand’s website received an average 5,500 visits per day, compared to 2,000 normally.
Matt Hoskin from Immigration New Zealand said to TVNZ ‘We’ve seen a four times increase in registrations for all occupations which is significant and in some sectors such as health that increase has been about five times higher.’
Accent Health recruitment told Pulse it had received 18 new GP enquiries from 23 June to 19 July, while they normally only get two or three per week.
They said: ‘Doctors and nurses working in the NHS are concerned about budgeting and therefore the safety of their patients and the staffing levels.
‘The typical enquiries have been from family, and medical professionals aged 35-50, the parents want to have a secure future for their children.‘
