She took a nursing job at the Cleveland Clinic in Abu Dhabi before moving to Dubai a year later.<\/p>\n
Over the past 12 years, Natalie\u2019s career has progressed rapidly.<\/p>\n
She is now the managing director of her own company, ICMG, a healthcare consultancy that supports workers in the UAE, and earns six figures.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I first moved to Dubai<\/a>, I earned double what I earned in the NHS,\u201d she says. \u201cOn top of that, there\u2019s no income tax, you also get housing allowance for your whole contract, and they paid for a private bus transfer every day. I got \u00a36,000 upfront to decorate my apartment when I first came out.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEverything is just so convenient and just works in Dubai,\u201d she continues. \u201cIf you go out for lunch, you\u2019re going to a beach club and a five-star hotel\u2026 it shapes your mental health for the better, which shapes your physical health and whole wellbeing too.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018I describe Dubai as the land of opportunity\u2019<\/p>\n Originally from Dumfries, Scotland, Natalie is not alone in seeking greener pastures abroad as a medical worker. One in 10 healthcare workers left the NHS in the 12 months leading up to September 2024.<\/p>\n Another report estimated that about 70 NHS nurses and midwives leave to work abroad daily, contributing to ever-increasing staff shortages and pressure.<\/p>\n While Australia, Canada, and New Zealand are touted as the best destinations for better pay and quality of life, with all three ranking higher than the UK on the OECD Better Life Index, Dubai is the sleeper hit taking over TikTok. <\/p>\n Videos amassing tens of thousands of views show doctors and nurses living well in Dubai<\/a>. An estimated 40,000 British expats <\/a>live in Dubai. In 2024, UK searches for \u201cjobs in Dubai\u201d spiked 50 per cent on the previous year.<\/p>\n Aside from doubling her earnings from about \u00a33,000 per month to more than \u00a36,000 tax-free in the UAE, Natalie says she fell in love with Dubai\u2019s vibrant community. \u201cI describe Dubai as the land of opportunity because there\u2019s just a sense of everyone wanting to do well. Once I was here, I was like, this is where I want my life,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Natalie has now established herself as a highly respected voice in developing new healthcare guidelines in Dubai, working in tandem with the Dubai Health Authority.<\/p>\n \u201cI commissioned the first British hospital in Dubai, and that\u2019s been one of the proudest moments of my career, seeing that hospital go from literally a spade in the sand to this beautiful 100-bed hospital with extended clinics,\u201d she says. \u201cThat was such a privilege for me and a massive step in my career.\u201d<\/p>\n Natalie has partnered with Laura Skellam, 29, another British nurse who left the NHS to work in Dubai in 2020, to found ICMG.<\/p>\n Transitioning from the NHS to an all-private system in the UAE wasn\u2019t straightforward. When she first arrived, Natalie took a small step down in seniority and had to adapt to Dubai\u2019s healthcare system.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the UK, nurse practitioners can prescribe and are in charge of a lot more, but out here they use an American and physician-led model of care \u2013 everything you do has to be a doctor\u2019s order,\u201d she says. \u201cYou also go from a public, nurse-led service to something physician-led and private care, which is a business essentially, so that\u2019s the biggest shock to the system over here.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018My salary is over \u00a3100,000 a year tax-free \u2013 at least double or triple what I would make in the NHS\u2019<\/p>\n Although Toby Harris<\/a>, 33, a physiotherapist and sports masseuse, started his career in the NHS, completing his training on a four-year degree in Scotland, he did not feel like that environment was his future.<\/p>\n \u201cMy first experience of NHS work was the short time period you have with patients, the limited resources you can share with them, and the wait times between seeing your patients again,\u201d he says. \u201cI set up my private practice during my fourth year because my flash-in-the-pan experience was enough to realise that I didn\u2019t want to work in the NHS.\u201d<\/p>\n Later, after a successful run as a diving coach at the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympics, Toby was invited to Dubai to train potential athletes and instantly fell in love with the Dubai lifestyle of sun and success. <\/p>\n When Covid shut down all sports, Toby pivoted back to his roots and set up a thriving physiotherapy and sports masseuse business in Dubai, earning well beyond the highest salary bands for NHS physiotherapists, which are between \u00a352,000 and \u00a372,000.<\/p>\n \u201cNow, my salary is over \u00a3100,000 a year and it\u2019s tax-free, so that\u2019s at least double or triple what I would make in the NHS,\u201d he says. \u201cThere\u2019s absolutely no way I would return to the UK for work.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/SEI_255751160-e1750083141292.jpg\")
Natalie and Laura Skellam are both nurses who have set up health consultancy ICMG in Dubai together<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/SEI_255751159.jpg\")
Toby Harris fell in love with Dubai after working as a diving coach to train athletes<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/SEI_255751228.jpg\")
Dr Wael Elamin worked in the NHS for 13 years but has found it has become increasingly unfriendly to foreigners<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/SEI_255751161.jpg\")
Suzane Teneza struggled with the 12-hour shifts in the UAE and preferred her work-life balance in the NHS <\/p>\n