Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

NHS ‘may not survive Brexit’ if EU staff forced to leave

‘I don't think any organisation could sustain such a large loss in one hit and cope with it,’ says nurse

May Bulman
Friday 04 November 2016 07:59 EDT
Comments
Much of the NHS is still facing staff shortages and is currently looking for more than 300 nurses and midwives, says RCN member
Much of the NHS is still facing staff shortages and is currently looking for more than 300 nurses and midwives, says RCN member (Getty)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

The NHS would struggle to survive if there was a mass exodus of staff as a result of a hard Brexit deal, the UK’s largest nursing union has warned.

Julie Williams, a member of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), said the health service was already being stretched by staff shortages and expressed doubts it could cope with “such a large loss” of its workforce.

The union backed the claims, telling The Independent there were “a lot of EU nurses working in the UK” and that they were vital to the service’s ability to provide safe care.

Ms Williams, who works as a nurse at Pilgrim Hospital in Boston, Lincolnshire, where 76 per cent of the population voted to leave, told Sky News: “There are 33,000 EU nurses currently working across the NHS in the UK, and there are 330-odd working in this particular organisation.

“I don't think that any organisation could sustain such a large loss in one hit and cope with it.”

Ms Williams said the trust that runs the hospital employed 339 people from the EU but, like much of the NHS, was still facing staff shortages, and was currently looking for more than 300 nurses and midwives.

She added that doctors were also being brought over from Europe due to a shortage of local GPs.

The RCN told The Independent it shared Ms Williams' concerns, reiterating its previous calls on the Government to secure the futures of EU nurses following the Brexit vote.

In July, the union warned of the potential damage continuing uncertainty over their future could have on the trust's ability to provide safe care, urging that it was vital that EU colleagues were supported to stay.

More than 17,000 nurses and health visitors in the UK are said to be from EU countries, accounting for 6 per cent of total staffing numbers.

The figure for doctors is even higher, with just under 10,000 hospital doctors coming from EU countries – about 9 per cent of the total.

Meanwhile, 36 per cent of staff in the health service were born overseas, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Prior to the Brexit vote a survey of hospital leaders revealed 80 per cent of NHS trust chief executives and chairs believed the service would face a staffing crisis if the UK were to leave the EU.

Following the EU referendum in June, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said the NHS should slash numbers of foreign doctors and hire British ones in their place when the UK leaves the EU.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in