More than 2000 German doctors are registered to work in the United Kingdom, despite nearly 5000 vacancies in Germany.

Around 350 partial and full registrations are being granted every year to German doctors, although a third of hospitals in Germany are considering introducing waiting lists because of a shortage of medical staff.

A report in Clinical Medicine (2004;4:57-9) says that German doctors are attracted by a range of factors, including systematic postgraduate training, better working conditions and pay, and opportunities for professional development.

“Such qualities are easily overlooked amid the near universal criticism of the NHS as an employer,” says the report, …