02.08.18
Hospital serving Dominic Raab’s constituency warns Brexit ‘will break NHS’
A hospital serving the constituents of Brexit secretary Dominic Raab has published a damning Brexit impact report, in which it warns Brexit “will break the NHS.”
The paper from Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, obtained by the Daily Mirror via an FoI request, states that the expectation for extra cash for the NHS after Brexit – likely referring to prime minister Theresa May’s ‘Brexit dividend’ – may be false.
The document also warns of staff shortages, rising costs of medical supplies, and less accessibility to specialist medical equipment supplied by the EU, as well as IT servers and basic medicines.
A spokesperson for Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation Trust noted that as a responsible employer and operating business, such assessments are regularly undertaken.
The spokesperson added: “We have highlighted areas that could be affected and are working up various contingency options – based on a variety of Brexit outcomes – which are still very fluid and undefined. Therefore, any potential risks identified are only possibilities and not definite, and are only appropriate to our trust, as are any specific solutions.
“We can say that, to date, there has been a definite impact on our workforce where we have already experienced issues with regards to recruitment from the EU and retention with our existing EU staff members.”
The hospital noted that it has implemented specific plans to support staff and revealed that “these measures have already resulted in a recent stabilisation in numbers of EU staff.”
The report reflects the outcome of a survey of doctors by the BMA that found that four fifths (79.4%) of doctors think that Brexit will have a “detrimental” effect on the NHS.
Earlier this week, it was revealed that council’s across the UK had begun planning for ‘social unrest’ in case of a ‘no deal’ Brexit.
Additionally, NHS bosses revealed plans earlier this month for a potential ‘no deal’ Brexit as the government announced it would be stockpiling drugs in case the UK crashes out of the EU without a deal.
Top image: Monasse Thierry via ANDBZ/ABACA/ABACA/PA Images
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