Doctors and Nurses (Developing Countries) Bill

A Bill to require the Secretary of State to report on the merits of a scheme for the United Kingdom to pay to train two doctors or nurses in developing countries for each doctor or nurse recruited to the National Health Service from those countries.

Originating House

House of Commons

Sponsor

Sir Andrew MitchellConservative

Last Updated

4 May 2021

In Plain English

AI-generated

The bill would require the Government to look at and report on a proposed 'two-for-one' scheme: for every doctor or nurse the UK recruits from a developing country, the Government would fund the training of two others in that country. It asks for a formal assessment of whether such a scheme would be worthwhile, rather than mandating immediate changes to NHS recruitment.

Key Points

The Secretary of State must produce a formal report on the merits of the proposed training scheme.
The scheme envisages paying to train two doctors or nurses in developing countries for every one recruited to the NHS from those countries (a two-for-one approach).
The report would consider costs, benefits, feasibility and the impact on health systems in developing countries.
The bill creates an assessment process rather than an automatic requirement to implement the scheme and is a private member’s bill introduced by Sir Andrew Mitchell.

Progress

The bill is currently at the second reading in the House of Commons; it has not yet progressed to committee stage or further readings in this session.

Who is affected?

Doctors and nurses in developing countries who might be trained under the schemeNHS recruiters and NHS patients in the UKNHS trusts and other NHS bodies involved in recruitmentUK taxpayers funding the schemeGovernments and health ministries in developing countries affected by the training scheme

Generated 21 February 2026

Updates & Documents

News (1)

News - Doctors and Nurses (Developing Countries)

1 Jan 1970

The Bill failed to complete its passage through Parliament before the end of the session. This means the Bill will make no further progress.

Documents (1)

Bill 213 2019-21 (as introduced)

BillCommons

8 Jan 2021

Parliamentary Votes (0)

No recorded votes for this bill yet.

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