Three quarters of a million recent arrivals registered with a GP last year

752,730 type-4 registrations in 2025 - greater than the total number of patients registered in each of the following areas: Liverpool, Bradford, Sheffield, Leicester, and Newcastle.

Topline

There were 752,730 type-4 GP registrations in 2025 - greater than the total number of patients registered in each of the following areas: Liverpool, Bradford, Sheffield, Leicester, and Newcastle.

The total number of registered patients increased by 211,714. Meaning last year’s type-4 registrations were equivalent to 300% of the total increase in registered patients.

The number of patients registering from overseas is equivalent to the number of patients registered at between 80 and 290 GP surgeries.

Main

New research by the Centre for Migration Control reveals that there were 752,730 type-4 registrations with GP surgeries in 2025.

Flag 4 records reflect the number of individuals that register with a General Practitioner (GP) in England and Wales and whose previous address was outside the UK and who have spent more than three months abroad, and have previously been a datasource that is used to gauge migration levels. This figure could therefore include a small number of Brits returning home and of migrants on visitor visas.

Over the same period, the total number of patients registered with a GP increased by 211,714 - from 63,724,968 (Jan 2025) to 63.936, 682 (Dec 2025).

This means that recent migrants registering with GPs account for over 300% of the increase in total patients registered.

There were a total of 6,491,948 registrations in 2025, with the vast majority of these being people who have internally migrated within Britain and have registered with a GP at their new address.

Comparisons

Data drawn from: https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/patients-registered-at-a-gp-practice/january-2026 (Patients registered at a GP practice: Commissioning regions)

Comparison with Integrated Care Boards

The number of flag 4 patients registering last year is greater than the total number of registered patients in:

NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Integrated Care Board region: 538,095 (Jan 2026) ORG Code: QOC

NHS Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly Integrated Care Board region: 605,661 (Jan 2026) ORG code: QT6

NHS Somerset Integrated Care Board region: 607,408 (Jan 2026) ORG code: QSL

NHS Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board region: 699,300 (Jan 2026) ORG code: QR1

Comparison with towns/cities

The sub-ICB region which covers Sheffield (03N) had 638,397 registered patients as of January 2026

The sub-ICB region which covers Bradford (36J) had 688,709 registered patients as of January 2026.

The sub-ICB region which covers most of Liverpool (99A) had 602,016 registered patients as of January 2026.

The sub-ICB region which covers Leicester City (04C) had 448,211 registered patients as of January 2025

The sub-ICB region which covers most of Newcastle (13T) had 561,184 registered patients as of January 2025.

The sub-ICB region covering Colchester and Clacton (06T) had 382,033 registered patients as of January 2026 - half as many flag 4 patients that registered last year.

Implications

GPs are paid £112.50 per registered patient per year. The total number of registering flag 4 patients is equivalent to an increase in spending of £84.6million.

There were 6,229 GP practices in England in July 2025. This would mean that each practice received an average of 120.8 flag-4 registrations in just one year.

The median number of patients per practice is 9,015, which would mean that the equivalent of 83.4 new practices are needed just to meet recent arrivals.

For comparison there are:

83 practices in the Liverpool sub-ICB region,

74 practices in the Sheffield sub-ICB region,

58 practices in the Bradford Craven sub-ICB region,

51 practices in the Leicester City sub-ICB region,

The figure is also equivalent to the number of patients registered at 290 GP surgeries that have between 1003 and 3669 registered patients. (Source: https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/patients-registered-at-a-gp-practice/january-2026 Patients registered at a GP practice: GP practice - all persons)

About flag 4 registrations

Were a recent migrant to change GP surgery within their first year of arrival, they will not appear as a flag 4 registration. Nor do the figures reflect the fact that many new migrants will simply not register with a GP, and will instead use walk-in centres or A&E services. https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/internationalmigration/methodologies/localareamigrationindicatorssuiteqmi

The pressures caused by mass migration are having a direct impact on the functioning of the NHS. Politicians need to be honest and admit that a population explosion driven by open border policies is having a direct impact on the ability of Brits to access effective and timely healthcare.

Restoring order to our immigration system and entering a sustained period of net negative migration is vital to ease the burden on our health service.