The United Kingdom’s General Medical Council has licensed fresh 91 Nigerian-trained doctors. The accreditation of the 91 doctors took place between October 10 and October 25, 2022.
This brings the total number of Nigerian-trained doctors in the UK to 10,387. There are 5,210 associate specialists, 2,318 doctors in training, 1,837 general practitioners, and 1,273 specialists among the 10,387 physicians.
The accreditation of the 91 doctors came amidst concerns by the Nigerian Medical Association against the brain drain rocking Nigeria’s health sector.
Other categories of health workers are also migrating. Data shows that between January 1, 2022, and September 30, 2022, about 1,307 Nigerian-trained doctors were licensed in the UK as Nigeria continues to battle one of the worst situations of brain drain in its history.
However, Nigerian medics who got medical qualifications in schools outside the country are not captured in the data.
The NMA, while lamenting the high rate of medical brain drain, said Nigeria may import doctors in the future.
Nigeria currently has the third-highest number of foreign doctors employed in the UK after India and Pakistan.
The National President of the Medical and Dental Consultant Association of Nigeria, Dr Victor Makanjuola, while commenting on the situation earlier, said, “In the last two years, over 500 consultants, in my estimation, have left the services of government hospitals for practice abroad. All our government hospitals are consultant-led practices, which is the global standard. We have lost 500 in just two years…”
Makanjuola says, to sustain the system and train the next generation of medical doctors and medical students, Nigeria needs to retain the older consultants who are in their 50s and getting close to retirement.