A Lonelier U.K. Is Sending Foreign Doctors Home

The U.K. has put foreign doctors on notice: Their services will soon no longer be required. The government of Prime Minister Theresa May announced plans on Tuesday to make the National Health Service “self-sufficient” in the next decade. For a nation trying to burnish its image as an open and forward-looking society even as it cuts ties with Europe, it’s hard to think of a worse policy than this one.

The National Health Service, a revered taxpayer-funded system that is struggling with staffing and funding shortages and delivers uneven care across the country, relies heavily on foreign-trained medical staff. The U.K. has a higher proportion of foreign-trained doctors than any of the 35 members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development except for Israel, New Zealand, Ireland, Norway and Australia.