Over 22,000 EU nationals leave NHS since referendum

New figures indicate that more than 22,000 EU nationals have left the NHS since the EU referendum in 2016.

Responses by 88 NHS hospital trusts to freedom of information requests show that 22,600 EU nationals have left the health service over the past three years, including 8,800 nurses and midwives.

The numbers quitting the NHS increased by 21 per cent from 7,037 in 2015, the year before the referendum, to 8,540 the year after in 2017. While departures declined to 7,647 in 2018, the number remained nine per cent above pre-referendum levels.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is under increasing pressure after making comments that EU migrants had been ‘treating Britain as their own’ for too long. His party have pledged to increase nursing numbers by 50,000 is dependent on recruiting 12,000 new nurses from overseas.

The Liberal Democrats say this will be undermined by new visa and migrant health surcharge requirements due to be extended to EU nationals after Brexit, which would cost European nurses £3,589 over five years.

Luciana Berger, the Liberal Democrats Health Spokesperson, said: “These figures show the damage that Brexit has already done to our NHS, driving away the nurses and other health professionals that we so desperately need. Boris Johnson would make this crisis even worse by heartlessly slapping a nurse tax worth thousands of pounds on those coming to work for our health service. EU nationals are integral to our NHS and yet the Tories are treating them like dirt. The Liberal Democrats are the only major party standing up for free movement and for the EU staff our NHS relies on. We will stop Brexit, stop Boris and protect the NHS.”