As of September 2024, there were 146,387 full-time equivalent (FTE) doctors in NHS Hospitals and Community Health Services (HCHS) in England, which is more than two thousand times the number reported in September 1995.

There were over 128 thousand National Health Service (NHS) doctors in England in 2022. The number of doctors employed in the NHS has experienced some fluctuations during the provided time interval, with the number of doctors peaking at approximately 125.6 thousand in 2008.

Specialty breakdown in the UK

The most common specialty of doctors across the United Kingdom overall is medicine, with over a quarter of all doctors falling under this category. 18 percent of doctor’s specialty was in surgery and then anesthetics and intensive care medicine accounted for 13 percent of doctors in the UK.

Diversity among doctors

In 2019, 8.9 percent of the licensed doctors in the UK came from the European Economic Area (EEA). The share of EEA graduates in the UK doctor’s workforce has been decreasing since 2014 when over ten percent of the workforce was made up of graduates from the rest of Europe. Furthermore, over a quarter of doctors in the UK in 2019 came from outside the UK and EEA.

This report shows monthly numbers of NHS Hospital and Community Health Services (HCHS) staff working in NHS Trusts and other core organisations in England (excluding primary care staff). Data are available as headcount and full-time equivalents and for all months from 30 September 2009 onwards. These data are a summary of the validated data extracted from the NHS HR and Payroll system. Additional statistics on staff in NHS Trusts and other core organisations and information for NHS Support Organisations and Central Bodies are published each: September (showing June statistics) December/January (showing September statistics) March (showing December statistics) June (showing March statistics) Quarterly NHS Staff Earnings, monthly NHS Staff Sickness Absence reports, and data relating to the General Practice workforce and the Independent Healthcare Provider workforce are also available via the Related Links below. We welcome feedback on the methodology and tables within this publication. Please email us with your comments and suggestions, clearly stating Monthly HCHS Workforce as the subject heading, via enquiries@nhsdigital.nhs.uk or 0300 303 5678.

In 2025, roughly 395 thousand doctors were registered in the United Kingdom. The age group with the highest number of doctors is among 30 to 34 years with nearly 66 thousand professionals, followed those aged 35 to 39 years. There were 12.8 thousand doctors aged over 70 years in the UK still registered. Gender distribution of UK doctors In total, there are more male doctors than female doctors registered in the UK. However, there are differences by age group. The majority of younger doctors are female. In fact, there is a clear divide, in 2025, there were more male doctors in all age groups over 45 years, while in all age groups younger than 45 years, female doctors outweighed males. The gender distribution also varies depending on the specialty of the doctor. General Practice Of the 395 thousand doctors registered in the United Kingdom in 2024, around 80.3 thousand were registered as general practitioners. In the last ten years, the ratio of patients per GP practice has been increasing, indicating a stretch on the health service. In 2016, there were, approximately 7.8 thousand patients to each GP practice in England, by 2024 this figure had climbed to over 10 thousand.

The number of doctors registered in the United Kingdom has increased over the period observed, from 240 thousand in 2006 to over 393 thousand in 2024. This included 110,444 specialist doctors and 80,540 general practitioners (GPs). Registered doctors do not all have a license to practice, nor are they necessarily employed.

Forecast: Number of Medical Doctors Graduates in the UK 2024 - 2028 Discover more data with ReportLinker!

In 2025, out of the 395 thousand registered doctors in the United Kingdom, 202 thousand were men and 193 thousand were women. There was a more pronounced gender gap among specialist doctors in the UK, with 69 thousand men to nearly 44 thousand women qualified on the specialist register. Although on the GP register, women outnumber men with over 45 thousand female GPs to nearly 35 thousand male GPs. Gender distribution of UK doctors by age While there are more male doctors than female doctors in total, the gender distribution of doctors in the UK looks different depending on the age group. Female doctors outnumber their male counterpart in all age groups under 45 years old. Therefore, as more doctors retire, the proportion of female doctors will increase. Worldwide make-up of doctors in the UK Although the majority of medical practitioners in the UK received their medical qualification from within the UK, there is still a significant number of doctors who graduated outside the UK. As of 2024, some 10 percent of registered doctors in the UK are from the European Economic Area (EEA) while a further third are international medical graduates (IMG) indicating the reliance of the NHS on immigration to support the organization’s workforce.

In 2025, among specialists, the most common specialty group in the UK was medicine, accounting for over 30 thousand doctors. Roughly half of which were specialized in general (internal) medicine, while nearly 3.5 thousand were cardiologists. A further nearly 20 thousand of specialists specialized in surgery and nearly 15 thousand were specialized in anesthetics and intensive care medicine. Age breakdown of doctors In the UK, the age group with the highest number of doctors is among 30 to 34 with nearly 66 thousand, followed by 63 thousand registered doctors aged 35 to 39 years. There are almost 13 thousand over 70s in the UK who continue to be registered doctors. Diverse composition of health workforce In 2024, 9.6 percent of licensed doctors in the UK graduated from the European Economic Area (EEA). The share of EEA graduates in the UK doctor’s workforce has been decreasing since 2014, when English language requirements of doctors were tightened. Furthermore, 13 percent of specialist in the UK received their primary medical qualification in the EEA, the highest share of EEA graduates among all doctors.

Forecast: Number of Physicians Employed in Hospitals in the UK 2023 - 2027 Discover more data with ReportLinker!

A detailed view of the NHS Medical and dental workforce including consultants, registrars and other doctors in training. Data for medical and dental staff are an annual snapshot of the number of doctors within hospital and community health services (HCHS) of the NHS. It excludes General Practitioners, GP practice staff and high street dentists. The detailed results contain further data tables for September 2012 for England by age, gender, specialty and grade and selected data by Strategic Health Authority area and individual organisation. This report is one of three that make up the NHS Staff 2002 - 2012 publication, along with: non-medical staff 2002 - 2012 general practice staff 2002 - 2012 For a general overview, see NHS Staff 2002 - 2012 overview

In 2024, there were over 318 thousand medical practitioners employed in the United Kingdom. This is an increase from 2010 when there were 227 thousand doctors in the UK. Between these years, the number of medical practitioners has experienced little fluctuations with large increases since 2020 (which could be due to temporary emergency registration measures taken up during the pandemic). Patterns of employment in the UK health sector The number of health professionals overall in the UK stood at 1.7 million in 2024, also a large increase in the number of workers from 2010. The number of nurses in the UK has also been increasing since 2010, amounting to 704 thousand in 2023. Impact of Brexit Doctors who qualified in a country from the European Economic Area (EEA) took up almost 10 percent share of the total doctors registered in the UK in 2023. This is the lowest proportion since 2011, although the decline had started prior to the UK’s decision to leave the EU.

Forecast: Number of Practising Physicians in Occupational Medicine in the UK 2024 - 2028 Discover more data with ReportLinker!

Forecast: Number of Practising Physicians in General Surgery in the UK 2024 - 2028 Discover more data with ReportLinker!

In the United Kingdom, there were slightly more female doctors employed in England, while there were nearly twice as many female doctors as male doctors in Scotland. Conversely, Northern Ireland had more male medical practitioners, while Wales also employed more male doctors than their female counterparts.

Forecast: Number of Practising Physicians in Internal Medicine in the UK 2024 - 2028 Discover more data with ReportLinker!

How the number of patients per doctor and nurse at GP practices in England has changed over time, and how it differs across age, region and deprivation.

The number of doctors in the specialist register in the United Kingdom increased over the period observed, from nearly 58 thousand in 2006 to over 112 thousand in 2024. The sudden increase in specialists in 2020 could be explained by the emergency measures taken in the early stages of the pandemic, such as the introduction of a temporary emergency register and the earlier registration of graduates. Similar spikes were also noticed among other doctors, such as general practitioners.

This is the latest compendium publication in the NHS Vacancy Statistics series containing vacancy related data for the NHS which provide four different views on recruitment information for the NHS. Data from NHS Jobs, the Electronic Staff Record (ESR) and Trac Recruitment Management Software (Trac) provide a range of proxy data sources for NHS vacancies. The series also includes management information related to vacancies within the NHS which have been collected by NHS England and NHS Improvement (NHSE&I). Users should note these data do not indicate how much of the reported substantive gap is filled by temporary staff. NHS Jobs is transitioning users to the new NHS Jobs service and an increasing number of Trusts are now using that to advertise their vacancies. Until a data flow has been established from the new service, we are unable to quantify the number of vacancies being advertised on it. Users of the data should be aware that affected Trusts may appear to show lower levels of vacancies than reported in the past. National and local totals are also affected. Due to the complex nature of how NHS vacancy data is defined and collected, all data sources should be treated with a degree of caution. NHS Digital look forward to developing the compendium publication further for future iterations of the series and remain committed to providing the best, most accurate and useful information possible to support the NHS and to serve the public good. To help with the development of this publication, feedback is continually welcomed and can be sent to: enquiries@nhsdigital.nhs.uk with the subject heading ‘NHS Vacancy Statistics publication feedback’.

Forecast: Number of Female Physicians Aged 45-54 in the UK 2024 - 2028 Discover more data with ReportLinker!

NHS Hospital & Community Health Service (HCHS) monthly workforce statistics: Support to doctors and nursing staff in England by area and level. This provides details of the numbers of Full Time Equivalent (FTE) staff employed by the NHS in England in the following support roles: - Nursing Assistant Practitioner - Nursery nurse - Nursing assistant/auxiliary - Nurse learners - Healthcare assistant - Support worker - Clerical & administrative - Estates (maintenance & works)

These statistics relate to the contracted positions within English NHS organisations and may include those where the person assigned to the position is temporarily absent, for example on maternity leave.