Doctor and Physician

Recruitment Agency UK

StaffBank is a specialist doctor and physician recruitment agency for UK hospitals, NHS trusts and private healthcare groups. We source GMC-eligible doctors with real clinical credibility — fast.

Doctor and Physician Recruitment

Agency — United Kingdom

Finding the right doctor for a clinical team in the UK is genuinely difficult. It always has been. But the current landscape — a chronic shortage of domestically trained physicians, increasing demand from an ageing population, and a tightening GMC registration pathway for international doctors — has made it harder than at any point in the last two decades.
Hospital groups and NHS trusts that rely on traditional contingency agencies to fill physician roles are experiencing the same cycle repeatedly. CVs that look right on paper but miss the mark clinically. Candidates who are not yet GMC registered and face a months-long compliance journey. Offers that fall through because the agency had no real relationship with the candidate.
StaffBank operates differently. We are a specialist physician recruitment partner — not a generalist agency with a healthcare division. Our entire model is built around sourcing, screening, and placing doctors who are the right clinical fit, properly licensed or clearly on a defined pathway to licensure, and genuinely committed to the role.

The Specialties We Recruit

  • Consultant Physicians and Specialist Doctors — all medical specialties
  • General Practitioners — both permanent and locum
  • Surgeons — general, orthopaedic, cardiothoracic, neurosurgery
  • Emergency Medicine and Acute Care Physicians
  • Anaesthetists and Intensivists
  • Psychiatrists and Mental Health Consultants
  • Paediatricians and Neonatologists
  • Radiologists and Interventional Radiologists
  • Cardiologists, Oncologists and Medical Subspecialists
  • Foundation and Core Trainee Level Doctors for specific programmes

GMC Registration and Licensing

We Manage It

One of the most time-consuming aspects of international physician recruitment in the UK is GMC registration. For doctors trained outside the UK, the pathway involves certificate of good standing, medical qualification verification, English language evidence, and in many cases the Professional and Linguistic Assessments Board examination.
We do not hand candidates a checklist and leave them to navigate this alone. Our team guides every international candidate through the GMC pathway, identifies where they are in the process, and sets realistic timelines so our clients know exactly when a doctor can start — before they make an offer.

NHS and Private Sector

We Work Across Both

Whether you are an NHS trust filling a consultant vacancy, a private hospital building a specialist department, or a clinic group expanding into a new location — our sourcing process is the same. We go to the right talent pool, ask the right questions, and present candidates who are actually suitable rather than padding a shortlist
to look busy.

We also work on retained search assignments for senior physician and medical director roles where the hiring timeline is longer and the brief is more specific. Retained assignments receive dedicated resourcer time and a defined search methodology agreed upfront.

Why StaffBank for

Physician Recruitment

  • Specialist healthcare focus — not a division of a generalist agency
  • GMC pathway knowledge built into every international candidate process
  • Sourcing from UK, Ireland, South Africa, India, Australia, and beyond
  • Embedded model — we work inside your process, not alongside it
  • No filler CVs — every candidate presented has been spoken to and assessed
  • Start date focus — we track compliance milestones so you do not have to

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does it take to place an internationally trained doctor in the UK?

For doctors already holding GMC registration, placement typically takes 4 to 8 weeks from brief to start date.


For internationally trained doctors requiring GMC registration — which includes qualification verification, good standing certificate, English language evidence, and in some cases PLAB examination — the full process takes 16 to 24 weeks. StaffBank maps this timeline at the sourcing stage so NHS trusts and private hospitals have accurate workforce planning data before making an offer.

We recruit across all medical specialties — consultant physicians, GPs, surgeons, anaesthetists, psychiatrists, paediatricians, radiologists, cardiologists, oncologists, emergency medicine doctors, and foundation level doctors for approved programmes. We also recruit medical directors, clinical directors, and department heads through our retained search model. If a specialty is not listed, contact us — our sourcing network covers the full clinical spectrum.

Yes — this is a core part of our service and one of the most important differentiators between StaffBank and a standard recruitment agency. We assess GMC eligibility at the sourcing stage, manage the good standing certificate collection from international licensing authorities, advise on IELTS or OET requirements, coordinate PLAB preparation where needed, and track the GMC application through to PIN issue. Our clients receive candidates with confirmed GMC timelines — not candidates who may or may not clear registration after an offer is made.

NHS recruitment operates within a procurement and governance framework — NHS Jobs, Agenda for Change pay scales, pre-employment check standards, and in many cases framework agreements. Private sector recruitment is more commercially driven with faster decision timelines and greater flexibility on compensation. StaffBank works across both environments. For NHS trusts we operate within required governance standards. For private hospital groups we work at the pace and commercial structure the client requires.

Yes. We place both permanent and locum doctors across the UK. For locum appointments — whether short-term ward cover or longer-term department gap filling — we maintain a pipeline of available candidates with confirmed registration status, indemnity coverage, and right to work. Locum placements can often be made within 48 to 72 hours for candidates already on our active register.

Have a question not answered here?

Contact our team directly at staffbank.net — we respond within one business day.
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