Even if London gets a deal for exiting the European Union, the National Health Service (NHS) will suffer multiple adverse effects, with serious staffing shortages already evident, a senior member of Keep Our NHS Public, a pressure group, told Sputnik
LONDON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th March, 2019) Even if London gets a deal for exiting the European Union, the National Health Service (NHS) will suffer multiple adverse effects, with serious staffing shortages already evident, a senior member of Keep Our NHS Public, a pressure group, told Sputnik."All medical opinion now recognises that Brexit is going to be very damaging for our National Health Service. Most people understand that now - whatever you feel as an individual about Brexit - it is going to be bad for the NHS," Jacqueline Davis, a member of the group's executive committee, said.
A recently updated study from the King's Fund also claims little has changed when it comes to the likely impact Brexit will have on the NHS. According to the research there is an evident shortage of more than 100,000 staffers in key areas of the NHS, with the potential end of free movement from the continent acting as a deterrent for foreign nationals who might otherwise seek employment in the health sector.
"Staffing is probably the Primary concern. At the moment I think we are short of about a hundred thousand NHS staff, and the Financial Times predicted recently that we're going to be a quarter of a million down by the end of the decade. Much of that will be due to a massive drop in the number of people coming over from Europe. That includes doctors, nurses and particularly care home workers. So patients will suffer because of serious staff shortages," Davis said.
Whilst admitting the risks to retaining foreign staff had been partially alleviated via programs such as the EU settlement scheme, dangers are believed to still remain, with a controversial earnings cap being seen as a potential hindrance to the health sector's ability to recruit and retain lower skilled workers.
Speaking on the possibility of the United Kingdom exiting the 28-nation union without a deal, Davis claimed the country stood to lose out on myriad cross-border arrangements, with some joint research projects having allegedly already ceased due to a lack of funding.
"Another problem involves research funds coming from the EU. A lot of the medical research in this country has been funded from the EU, and some joint projects between UK and EU researchers have already had to stop because of grants not coming through any more," she stressed.
In the event of exiting the union without a deal the UK will become a "third country" that will not be included within union-wide data sharing and collaborative research schemes. Whilst the potential remains for the United Kingdom to re-orientate towards domestic endeavors, concern remains over the supply of medicines not immediately available for local manufacture.
"All the radio isotopes we use are of course produced on the continent, so I don't know what would happen if we crashed out. We are already hearing that cancer investigation and treatment will be severely affected if the supply is cut off, and of course it's impossible to stock pile them," Davis pointed out.
The United Kingdom remains deadlocked in on-off talks over amendments to the current terms of exit, due on March 29. Talks on Tuesday between EU officials and Prime Minister Theresa May's top lawyer, Geoffrey Cox, also yielded little results, with Brussels remaining intransigent over the now infamous backstop mechanism that critics fear may keep the country tied to a common customs framework with Europe.
