Begum et al.1 reported the positive contribution made by foreign nationals to science and healthcare in the UK. Their data show that the percentage of fellows from both the Royal Society and the Academy of Medical Sciences, originally from the EU but working in the UK, increased after freedom of movement for EU citizens was introduced in the UK. The percentage of fellows originally from the rest of the world remained constant and the percentage of fellows from the UK decreased. The authors also revealed that the number of doctors on the General Medical Council register with a primary medical degree from the EU had increased.
The conclusion of the authors was that reducing immigration could well be harmful to both science and healthcare in the UK. We agree with the authors about this. However, they focused their article primarily on individual performance, e.g. by referring to a study which demonstrated that in the USA, there was reduced mortality of patients when they were treated by a non-USA graduate.2
What we felt was missing was another argument not mentioned by the authors. It is not just that people with certain skills and capabilities would be unable to work in the UK, research also suggests that diverse teams are better in creative problem-solving3 and that it is not just an individual’s ability which is important. With a reduction of immigration, we may find that there will be less creative and innovative science and medicine in the UK due, in part, to its lack of diversity.
Declarations
Competing Interests
None declared.
References
- 1.Begum M, Lewison G, Lawler M, Sullivan R. The value of European immigration for high-level UK research and clinical care: cross-sectional study. J R Soc Med 2018; 112: 014107681880342–014107681880342. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 2.Tsugawa Y, Jena AB, Orav EJ, Jha AK. Quality of care delivered by general internists in US hospitals who graduated from foreign versus US medical schools: observational study. BMJ 2017; 356: j273–j273. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 3.Hong L, Page SE. Groups of diverse problem solvers can outperform groups of high ability problem solvers. Proc Natl Acad Sci 2004; 101: 16385–16389. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]