Listening and learning: Amplifying the voices of overseas-trained workers, a review of the speaking up experiences of overseas-trained workers in England (1 May 2025)

Summary

Overseas-trained healthcare workers are reluctant to speak up about issues such as patient safety fearing it could lead to losing their right to work in the UK, according to a review from the National Guardian Freedom to Speak Up

Content

Listening and learning: Amplifying the voices of overseas-trained workers, a review of the speaking up experiences of overseas-trained workers in England highlights the unique challenges faced by NHS workers trained outside the UK when speaking up. 

Overseas-trained workers are a vital part of the NHS workforce. The National Guardian Freedom to Speak Up review sheds light on their experience, looking at the specific issues faced by overseas-trained workers in speaking up. The report also highlighting examples of good practice. 

The review finds that overseas-trained workers experience additional barriers to speaking up compared to domestically trained colleagues.  

To make it easier for overseas-trained workers to speak up, we are calling for action to: 

• Make recruitment and retention guidance support speaking up.
• Design speaking up arrangements that work for everyone.
• Use better data to understand and improve experiences.
• Build cultural competence and awareness to remove barriers to speaking up.