Blog: Medical Workforce Intelligence Reports 2024

Maintaining the Register of Medical Practitioners (‘the Register’) is fundamental to the Medical Council’s remit of protecting the public, and data held on the Register provides valid and robust insight into the medical workforce in Ireland.

Every year, the Medical Council produces a Workforce Intelligence Report which presents an analyses of the medical registration data gathered by the Medical Council through its annual registration retention process. It also draws on existing registration data to provide a cross-sectional overview of the retained doctors, who report being clinically active in the Republic of Ireland (all or some of the time).

This data aims to inform future workforce planning, training, and education requirements to support the delivery of timely and high-quality care to patients.

The Medical Council recently published its Medical Workforce Intelligence Report for 2024, along with two supplementary reports which analyse and present additional data in relation to doctors joining and leaving the Register in 2024. The reports are outlined below, along with links to the full digital version for view and download.

1. Medical Workforce Intelligence Report for 2024 - Doctors who retained their place on the Medical Council’s Register and reported being clinically active in the Republic of Ireland when renewing their registration in 2024.
2. Doctors Joining the Register in 2024 – A supplementary report on doctors who joined the Medical Council Register in 2024.
3. Doctors Leaving the Register in 2024 – A supplementary report on doctors who left the Medical Council Register in 2024 (including those who left voluntarily, and those who were removed for not renewing their registration).

The Medical Council continuously strives to improve and refine the quality and scope of our data collection, and these reports also contain data from new questions that were included in the annual retention process for doctors in 2024. We are committed to collaboratively sharing workforce data with our stakeholders including policymakers, educators, regulators, employers, Department of Health (DOH), Health Service Executive (HSE), Forum of Irish Postgraduate Medical Training Bodies and Medical Schools.

Medical Workforce Intelligence Report 2024

The 2024 Medical Workforce Intelligence Report presents an analysis of data provided by all doctors who have retained registration with the Medical Council in 2024. 

The report focuses on the clinically active* medical workforce in Ireland, presenting quantitative analysis of demographics and divisional status, and details on employment and practise such as self-reported role, medical discipline and specialty, and working hours.

This data on registration and divisional status and working arrangements is essential to informing medical training development, future workforce planning, healthcare strategies and policy in Ireland.

The data included in the 2024 report reinforces issues highlighted in previous iterations of this report, for example, the need for increased supports and training opportunities for non-consultant hospital doctors (NCHDs), excessive working hours in contravention of the European Working Times Directive (EWTD) and various workforce challenges due to retirement, changing work patterns and heavy reliance on doctors with international qualifications.

You can read more in the latest version of the report here:

Click here to read the Medical Workforce Intelligence Report for 2024.

Doctors Joining the Register in 2024

This supplementary workforce report provides a description of doctors who joined the Medical Council’s Register in 2024. This includes doctors who registered for the first time as well as those who restored their registration after a period of not being on the Register.

Some key highlights of the report are outlined below.

• In 2024, 5,304 doctors joined and remained on the Medical Council’s Medical Register. The majority of these doctors joined for the first time (89.0%), and the remainder restored their place (11.0%).  

• Just under two-thirds of doctors joining for the first time (65.6%) and half of doctors restoring their place (46.8%) were registered on the General Division at year end.  

• Over half of doctors restoring their place on the Register were qualified in Ireland (52.8%).  

Click here to read the supplementary report on Doctors Joining the Register in 2024. 

Doctors Leaving the Register in 2024

This supplementary workforce report provides a description of doctors who left the Medical Council’s Register in 2024. This includes doctors who were removed for not renewing their registration and paying the relevant fee during the annual retention period, and doctors who voluntarily withdrew during the 2024 calendar year.

Some key highlights of the report are outlined below.

• In 2024, 1,632 doctors left the Medical Council’s Medical Register. The majority of these doctors voluntarily withdrew (62.8%), and the remainder were removed for not renewing their registration (37.2%). 

• Doctors who voluntarily withdrew provided additional details and the majority of doctors, 58.8% indicated that they wished to practise medicine in another country, with a further 14.5% wishing to stop practising medicine. 

• The primary reason for leaving the register varied depending on the division of their registration, with the majority of doctors on the general division wishing to practise medicine abroad (60.6%) and the majority of doctors on the specialist division wishing to stop practising medicine (45.5%). 

• Doctors providing details on leaving the register were often moving abroad for professional development, better working conditions, and family reasons. Furthermore, many other doctors stopped their medical practice, either permanently or temporarily due to retirement, leaving clinical roles, or personal, financial and health reasons.  

Click here to read the supplementary report on Doctors Leaving the Register in 2024.

Jantze Cotter, Executive Director, Regulatory Policy, Standards and Research with the Medical Council welcomed the research outlined in the reports, saying,

“These reports are just one important aspect in our wider workforce planning to meet patient needs into the future.  

“Although Ireland is internationally respected for its high standards in medical training, retaining doctors trained in Ireland remains a challenge. Flexible training and practice options are essential as Ireland’s increasing population demands an increase in GP numbers, as well as overall doctor numbers. 

“Another key aspect to retaining our highly skilled workforce is through organisations working together, using data, knowledge, and resources to focus efforts and produce tangible actions,” Ms Cotter concluded.  

Dr Bernadette Rock, Head of Research and Regulatory Data Insights with the Medical Council, added:

“Our Medical Workforce Intelligence Reports are made possible by the doctors who answer the workforce questions on the 2024 Annual Retention Form. These insights from doctors are critical in shaping a sustainable, well-supported medical workforce and promoting patient safety into the future. We thank the doctors for their contributions.” 

*Definitions of terms: 

• Clinically Active in Ireland: All doctors who retain their place on the Register are asked if they are currently practising medicine. If a doctor selects ‘yes’ to this question they are defined as being clinically active. All doctors reporting to be clinically active, are asked where they are practising medicine. If they reported practising in the Republic of Ireland only, or both within and outside the Republic of Ireland they are defined as being clinically active in Ireland.