Welsh Government Must Act to Stop the Brain Drain of Doctors in Wales

esponding to a new report released today by the General Medical Council, the Welsh Liberal Democrats have called on both the Welsh Labour Government to take action to stop the brain drain of doctors from Wales.

The staggering statistics outlined in the report highlight that a huge 46% of medical graduates in Wales leave the country to practice in England. An additional 4% move to Scotland, Northern Ireland or abroad.

While England retained more than 92% of newly qualified GPs and specialists after four years, 77% of those who qualified in Wales stayed in Wales.

Wales is also shown to be the only part of the UK where there was an increase in the number of doctors leaving the workforce increasing by 3% compared to decreases of 5%, 13% and 10% in England, Northern Ireland and Scotland.

The Welsh Liberal Democrats are calling on Labour to put in place more opportunities for foundation posts and specialist training in order to retain medical students in Wales both while they carry out further studies and once they graduate.

Commenting Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader Jane Dodds MS said:

“The figures outlined by the General Medical Council for Wales today are pretty dire.

“46% of medical graduates in Wales leaving for England is a huge amount of talent being lost.

“We must make sure Wales is an attractive destination not just to study medicine at university level, but also for students wanting to go on to specialise in specific areas of medicine and carry out more advanced training once qualified.

“Our NHS is already suffering from stretched resources and low morale among staff, the last thing we need is talented staff leaving the country for better opportunities elsewhere.