Topic
Date published
18/12/2025
Professor Manish Pareek, Theme Lead for Ethnicity and Health Inequalities at the ARC East Midlands, was invited to share insights from his research alongside fellow experts and policymakers.
The roundtable, held on Monday, December 8, explored evidence-informed approaches to shaping effective workforce retention policies at both national and local levels.
The event was hosted by Sarah Owen MP, Chair of the House of Commons Women and Equalities Select Committee, and chaired by Professor Ibrahim Abubakar (UCL Vice-Provost Health).
Set in Westminster’s Grand Committee Room, the roundtable took place in the context of the UK Government’s new target to reduce overseas NHS recruitment to 10 per cent by 2035, in a bid to restrict immigration and grow local recruitment.
However, concerns remain that this could negatively impact the health service, given that one in five NHS staff in England are overseas nationals and over a third are from ethnic minority groups.
The discussion focussed on effective strategies to support and sustain a diverse NHS workforce from ethnic minority groups, whether from the UK or overseas, and provided an opportunity for Professor Pareek to summarise the evidence from their ongoing work on the I-CARE research project.
Funded by the NIHR and supported by NIHR ARC East Midlands, I-CARE aims to support the sustainability of a diverse NHS workforce by improving an understanding about how and why NHS staff from minority groups leave or stay in their jobs.
By working with key stakeholders, the researchers aim to support policy development and delivery.
Professor Pareek said: “To improve retention, our research suggests that the NHS needs to implement systematic cultural changes to better support staff mental health and ensure NHS staff feel valued by their employers, by patients and the government (action on pay may support the latter).
“It is essential to tackle discrimination and to build opportunities for healthcare workers to forge strong social links with one another.”
After analysing over two million NHS human resources records from 2009 to 2024, interim findings from the I-CARE study showed that overseas nationals were more likely to leave the NHS than UK nationals.
Concerningly, in recent years, UK nationals from ethnic minority backgrounds have been increasingly likely to leave the NHS compared to white British UK nationals.
Further interim findings from the study found that healthcare workers who migrated to the UK are more likely to leave the NHS to go overseas, whereas UK healthcare workers are more likely to leave healthcare entirely or retire early.
During the event, attendees discussed the major barriers and policy levers/opportunities for improving the retention of staff from minority ethnic groups, including the pay gap and representation at senior level.
The findings from the I-CARE study will be published in a full report next year, and the researchers hope that it will provide significant guidance for government and policymakers.
Sarah Owen MP said: “People from ethnic minority backgrounds make an enormous contribution to our health service but all too frequently are faced with discrimination, harassment and abuse.
“They can face abuse from patients, visitors and, alarmingly, from other colleagues. It harms careers and has been found to have significant mental health impacts.
“Often, it is women who bear the brunt. I welcome the important research being undertaken and look forward to seeing their final conclusions.”