Kemi Badenoch Says It Is Not Normal to Walk Into a UK Hospital and Find So Many Foreign Doctors and Nurses, as She Reveals What Britain Must Do Next

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has said Britain needs to train more of its own doctors and nurses instead of depending so heavily on healthcare workers from other countries to keep the NHS running.

She said it is strange that a country like the UK, which takes pride in its National Health Service, cannot find enough British-trained healthcare workers to fill important positions in hospitals.

Speaking during an interview with LBC, Badenoch questioned why the NHS relies so much on immigration to recruit doctors and nurses.

She said it is not normal for someone to walk into a British hospital and find that many of the doctors and nurses working there have come from abroad.

According to her, the UK should be able to train and employ more of its own people to work in the health service.

Badenoch explained that she is not completely against bringing healthcare workers from other countries. She accepted that Britain will sometimes need foreign professionals to fill certain jobs.

However, she argued that if the NHS cannot survive without immigration, it means there is something wrong with how the health service is organised.

She believes the government should focus on building an economy where British workers receive better wages and immigration is kept at a lower level.

Badenoch said Britain should only bring in foreign workers when they are genuinely needed, rather than creating a system that depends on immigration to function.

She also suggested that one way to encourage more British people to become nurses would be to increase their salaries and make it easier for them to enter the profession.

One of the changes she is considering is removing the requirement for nurses to have a university degree.

At the moment, people who want to become registered nurses in the UK generally need to complete an approved nursing degree or an equivalent training route, such as a nursing degree apprenticeship.

Badenoch questioned why young people should have to take on large student loans before they can qualify for jobs that may not pay as much as they expected.

She compared the situation to changes made in police recruitment, where people can enter the profession through different training routes without necessarily having a university degree.

The Conservative leader said her party is looking at possible changes to nursing education and student loans to make healthcare careers more attractive to British people.

Her comments come as new figures show just how much the NHS depends on workers from other countries.

Research from the House of Commons Library shows that people from 216 different countries are employed in the NHS.

According to the figures cited in the report, around 30% of nurses and health visitors are foreign nationals.

Out of 370,957 nurses and health visitors included in the figures, approximately 247,850 are British nationals.

Among the foreign nationals working in these roles are around 42,169 Indians, 25,000 Filipinos and 12,646 Nigerians.

The figures also show that the NHS depends heavily on overseas doctors.

Around 36% of doctors included in the data are foreign nationals, with approximately 98,130 British doctors compared with 57,980 doctors from other countries.

India is one of the largest sources of overseas doctors working in the NHS, with around 12,680 Indian doctors.

Pakistan follows with approximately 6,315 doctors, while Egypt accounts for around 4,397.

The number of NHS workers from African and Asian countries has also increased significantly over the years, with the report stating that their numbers have doubled since 2010.

These figures highlight the important role foreign healthcare professionals play in keeping hospitals and other NHS services running across Britain.

However, Badenoch believes the government should be doing more to train British workers so the health service does not have to depend so heavily on recruitment from abroad.

Her comments have come at a time when healthcare organisations are already raising concerns about proposed changes to immigration and settlement rules.

Several health groups have warned that making it harder for foreign workers to settle permanently in Britain could encourage thousands of doctors and nurses to leave the country.

They fear this could make existing staff shortages worse and affect the quality of care patients receive.

The Royal College of General Practitioners has warned that the NHS currently relies heavily on overseas recruitment to fill important vacancies.

The organisation said that without foreign healthcare workers, the health service would struggle to operate properly.

The Royal College of Nursing has also raised concerns and suggested that overseas nurses should be given a faster route to permanent settlement in the UK.

Healthcare organisations believe this could help Britain retain experienced foreign nurses who are already working in hospitals and caring for patients.

Meanwhile, figures from the Nursing and Midwifery Council show that around 21,000 UK-trained students started nursing training courses last year.

However, experts say training more people is only part of the solution.

The NHS also faces problems keeping healthcare workers in their jobs, with some doctors and nurses leaving because of working conditions, career opportunities and other challenges.

Research by the Nuffield Trust found that only around 56% of doctors who were in core training remained in NHS hospital and community services in England eight years later.

This has raised concerns about the need to improve working conditions and encourage more healthcare professionals to remain in the NHS.

Badenoch believes that improving pay and reducing the financial burden of training could help attract more British people into nursing.

She also expressed concern about the future of young people in Britain, warning that rising unemployment, disappearing jobs and the growing use of artificial intelligence could create more difficulties for the next generation.

According to her, the government needs to think carefully about how the British economy will operate in the coming years and how young people can find secure, well-paid employment.

Her comments have added to the ongoing debate about immigration and the future of the NHS.

While Badenoch wants Britain to become less dependent on foreign healthcare workers, medical organisations continue to warn that overseas doctors and nurses remain essential to the health service.

The disagreement raises an important question about how Britain can train and retain more of its own healthcare professionals while ensuring that hospitals continue to have enough staff to care for patients.

For now, foreign doctors and nurses, including thousands from Nigeria, India, Pakistan, the Philippines and other countries, remain a major part of the NHS workforce.