Doctors and Nurses (Developing Countries) Bill

Key Points

• Requires a government report on the merits of a scheme to pay to train two clinicians in developing countries for each NHS recruit from those countries.
• The scheme would be funded by the UK, but the bill only asks for an assessment, not a commitment to implement or fund it.
• Aims to address UK workforce needs while supporting healthcare capacity in developing countries, while raising debates about brain drain and equity.
• Introduced in the Commons as a sponsor-driven bill (Sir Andrew Mitchell) and currently at the 2nd reading stage.
• Does not itself establish the scheme or mandate immediate changes to NHS recruitment or international training policies.

Progress

The bill has completed the first reading and is currently at the 2nd reading in the House of Commons; it is an early-stage Private Member’s Bill introduced by Sir Andrew Mitchell.