Scotland needs migrant GPs! Why we must do more to help them stay here

In recent years, but particularly since the 2016 Brexit referendum, reducing immigration to the UK has become a goal for many politicians – until, that is, they find themselves in government and having to make decisions about how many people to let in.

Previous Conservative governments presided over record levels of net migration, despite much rhetoric about creating a “hostile environment. So how did this apparently contradictory situation occur? The fairly straightforward reason is, despite some public hostility to the idea, the UK needs migrants – and Scotland more than most parts of the country.

A new call by the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) for the Scottish Government to set up a new body to help international medical graduates stay in Scotland to work as GPs provides one of many examples.

The number of GPs in Scotland has been falling at a time when our ageing population means the demand for their services is increasing (Picture: Charles Milligan/Hulton Archive) | Getty Images

Stressed-out GPs quitting

An estimated 40 per cent of GP trainees in the UK are from overseas. However, after finishing their training, if they fail to find a surgery to sponsor their visa, they are required to leave the country. The process is bureaucratic and expensive for the practices involved, and a survey has found nearly half of all international trainees experienced problems getting a visa.

This is happening at a time when Scotland is attempting to recruit an extra 800 GPs by 2027, doctors’ caseloads are rising, and all too many are reducing their hours to cope with the work-related stress or quitting the job altogether. No wonder then that the number of full-time equivalent GPs has actually fallen for three years in a row.

Dr Chris Provan, chair of RCGP Scotland, stressed the need for more GPs for overseas countries, particularly given Scotland’s ageing population, but added: “It should be celebrated that many international medical graduates who complete their training here have put down roots in their communities and wish to remain in Scotland to practice as GP.”

Celebrating migrants is something we should do more often, if only to provide some balance to a debate that has become too one-sided and to caution against arbitrary caps on immigration that fail to take account of the real-world needs of businesses and vital public services like GPs.