bmj.com Website Analysis for May 2026

Moving to the antipodes is often touted as the dream solution for burnt out and frustrated UK doctors—but is it? Three doctors who made the move tell Jo Best about the pros and cons Last year, hundreds of doctors gave up practising medicine in the UK to work in Australia and New Zealand, uprooting their lives and families rather than continuing to work in the NHS. Every year, around 10 000 UK doctors choose voluntary erasure or to relinquish their licence to practise, the General Medical Council (GMC) reports; around a quarter of those give up their licence to work abroad while another 10% say their aim in leaving the UK register is to live abroad—meaning almost one third of those quitting the NHS do so with a view to going overseas.1 Between May 2021 and May 2022, 19% of the almost 5000 doctors who left to practise abroad chose Australia as their destination, and another 7% opted for New Zealand, the GMC says.1 The antipodes could become even more popular with migrating medics in future: a recent BMA survey of 4500 doctors found that around 1100 were actively planning to move abroad; around two thirds of those planning to move overseas said they were aiming for Australia or New Zealand.2 The typical image of a doctor leaving the NHS for Australia or New Zealand is a “foundation year 3” doctor looking for new experiences before entering specialty training, but the GMC has identified several other groups that make up those choosing to migrate. Among them are doctors who are disillusioned or burnt out, those struggling to progress their career, and NHS stalwarts looking to broaden their horizons in later life. Often, they’re looking to move as a way of achieving a better work-life balance or increasing their …