27.09.19
Brexit fears for the NHS remain despite detailed preparations
The National Audit Office (NAO) has released a report today outlining the best approach to a no-deal Brexit regarding healthcare.
Fears come from figures exposing that 7,000 out of 12,300 prescription-only and over-the-counter medicines come from or via the EU. It’s projected that the ports serving the Channel crosses will only be serving at 40-60% capacity according to the Government’s reasonable worst-case scenario
Carefully thought out advice was given including building up stockpiles and obtaining space in warehouses, re-routing supplies to avoid busy crossings and increasing the Department for Health & Social Care’s ability to monitor the situation and respond.
Despite the detailed preparations presented in the report, ‘Exiting the EU: supplying the health and social care sectors’, ‘it is suggested that the Brexit risk still remains.
Responding to the report, Dr Layla McCay, director of international relations at the NHS Confederation, said:
“The biggest insight this report gives us is just how detailed the government’s health-related Brexit preparations have been. At this stage, the evidence is reassuring that much of what is needed for the NHS is in place.
“But still the report identifies that uncertainties remain and, as we have warned, it is the unknowns and unknowables that present the biggest risk.
“The government still lacks insight into the level of readiness of around a third of the UK’s medicine and medical device/clinical consumable suppliers and freight procurement is clearly working to very tight timescales without margin for unpredictable error.
Nuffield Trust Brexit programme lead, Mark Dayan, said:
“Today’s report lays bare the DHSC’s frantic work to prepare the health service for the disruption of a no-deal Brexit. But the gaps it shows underline that this may be an impossible task in the short time available.”
“For the first time, we see it acknowledged that preparations are underway for the financial impact of a no-deal Brexit. It is good that the risks are being weighed up, but our work suggests extra costs in the medium term could reach £2.3 billion each year across the.”