Thanks. Ironically I understand that GP is the one speciality where Australian training is more readily accepted in the UK. As I understand it, and I am just a layperson trying to figure out why the UK is so perversely pushing DD and her bright, enthusiastic and dedicated peers to emigrate whilst at the same time bringing in armies of health professionals from abroad. (Similar unemployment problems exist for newly graduated nurses and other HCPs.)
Apparently 25 year ago or so there was a similar lost generation and the GP shortage became so acute that UK educated GPs were given incentives to return home. Someone told me recently that his two brothers, both Emergency Medicine consultants in Australia (an area where we have a massive shortage) were having to retrain as GPs in order to return home.
The Times recently ran a series of articles on the various workforce issues in medicine. One focussed on those stuck in Australia. Apparently Australia has 10,000 consultants who graduated from UK Universities, a proportion of whom want to return. However until they gain equivalence they can only take on insecure locum roles and equivalence often takes 5-7 years to sort out.
From what I can see the BMA is a mass of special interests and lobbies. Consultants who benefit from shortages at a senior level, militants who push for more pay, the woke brigade quick to reject the findings of the Cass report, those with an interest in overseas recruitment. The BMA has only recently been willing to raise the problems UK resident doctors have in accessing training, something that also affects overseas doctors recruited into entry level jobs here who then find they have no career path. Wes Streeting has rightly confirmed that this is an issue he has always been willing to talk about. I assume equally like to retain UK trained doctors reducing the need to bring people in from overseas, but this does not seem to be something that worries the BMA. Indeed, based on various MN and Reddit threads, even talking about it seems to be considered racist.
Inevitably, as this thread appears to evidence, shortages impact some areas more quickly than others. Parts of the UK which are seen as less attractive places to live or work suffer first. However the problem is systemic and unless action is taken, everyone will eventually be impacted by the slow erosion in quality of our health service.