Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is the total number of full time permanent employees of the NHS in England; and how many of those employees are (1) UK nationals, and (2) overseas nationals with permission to work in the UK.

The Department does not hold information on the number of overseas nationals with permission to work in the United Kingdom who are employed in the National Health Service in England. The following table shows, for January 2026, the self-reported nationality of staff employed by NHS hospital trusts and integrated care boards in England:

Source: NHS Workforce Statistics, NHS England

Note: total staff number is not equal to the sum of components due to some staff working in more than one role.

Self-reported nationality may sometimes reflect an NHS employee’s heritage rather than their current citizenship.