Doctors are leaving to work in Australia, GP warns

The UK is facing a "huge exodus" of young doctors taking jobs in Australia, a GP has warned.

Dr Syira Ahsan, who works at a surgery in Chigwell, Essex, said many medical professionals were burned out and traumatised.

There was a 19% rise in doctors leaving the job in 2024, according to a report by the General Medical Council (GMC) in November.

The Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) was contacted for comment. It previously said 2,500 GPs had been recruited since Labour came to power.

In its manifesto, Labour pledged to "take the pressure off" GP surgeries.

But Ahsan, who also works as a medical appraiser, said: "We're seeing a huge exodus of doctors leaving.

"I've been astounded at how many young GPs have shifted to Australia, they've gone.

"They say the work-life balance is so much better, so they're leaving."

The GMC report found there was a 19% increase in UK doctors with a primary medical qualification leaving the job in 2024 - rising from 1,350 in 2023, to 1,604.

However, it was noted, historically, many younger graduates who left would later return to the profession.

According to an article in The Times, a first-year doctor earns about £47,530 in Australia. Meanwhile, the British Medical Association's pay scales suggested this was £38,831 in the UK.

In July 2023, third-year junior doctor Dr Hayden Davis - who was at Colchester Hospital - told the BBC that a pay rise of about 50% was one of the reasons he was leaving for Australia.

"You've got GPs that are really dissatisfied because you go to work and it's like brace yourself, roll up your sleeves – it's going to be absolutely traumatic," Ahsan said, speaking to Sonia Watson on BBC Essex.

"The other day I walked in and I didn't come up for air until I finished. No break, no chit chat to any colleagues, it's just constant."

Ahsan insisted that medical services would be further overwhelmed if infrastructure was not built alongside housing.

"A lot of doctors are thinking, 'This isn't worth it, it's not what I trained for'. Burnout is a real thing."

In December, the DHSC said an extra £1.1bn had been invested into primary care.

GPs had also had their targets halved so they could spend "less time box ticking" and more time looking after patients, it added.

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