It is a bit more complex than this. The salaries aren't definitely not great compared with London...but they aren't terrible outside. I think the issue is that

It is a bit more complex than this. The salaries aren't definitely not great compared with London...but they aren't terrible outside. I think the issue is that being a "dev" in the NHS is nothing like being an actual dev anywhere else. It is mostly about learning proprietary software, not development. So there are no real transferable skills (and ofc, NHS Trusts is always do "internal hires"). I have seen this in other businesses. They have huge IT departments but it is mostly about maintaining proprietary software (like SharePoint or whatever). The business then changed to a tech business and they have hundreds of IT people who have no useful skills (and the issue is management, in the NHS you have managers who are from the last century...no wonder Palantir rolled them). (Somewhat ironically, one of these businesses actually employs a few top CS grads but they all work in the non-IT side of business...the issue is management in the UK not understanding what IT is for at a fundamental level).