Global talent in a polarised world: what health workforce data is telling NHS leaders now

As global mobility increases and health professionals gain greater choice over where they live and work, health systems are navigating a more complex and polarised landscape. In the UK, workforce shortages, unease about migration and growing international competition for talent are converging, pressures often felt first by employers. This session explores what emerging workforce and registration data reveals about these shifts, and how regulators are responding. Drawing on insights from internationally educated doctors and wider system intelligence, the panel will surface what leaders are sensing but not always articulating. The discussion will examine three realities: supporting professionals within a clear regulatory role; designing fair, proportionate and system-aware routes to registration; and navigating wider societal and workforce pressures. Using examples from internationally educated registrants to new evidence requirements, including for forcibly displaced professionals, the session will show how data, trends and lived experience offer early signals of pressure, opportunity and inequity, helping employers plan and support their workforce in a complex environment.