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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Denis Campbell Health policy editor

Rising racism blamed for collapse in number of foreign nurses coming to UK

Medical staff in a hospital ward
Between April and September 6,321 nurses and midwives from abroad joined the register of those licensed to practice in the UK, down from 12,534 a year earlier. Photograph: Tommy London/Alamy

The number of overseas nurses and midwives coming to the UK is collapsing, figures reveal, with rising racism and changes to immigration rules blamed for the fall.

Between April and September, 6,321 nurses and midwives from abroad joined the register of those licensed to practice in the UK, compared with 12,534 who did so in the same period in 2024.

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