Brexit could hinder medical research, BMA warns

The British Medical Association has warned that healthcare and medical research are being jeopardised by the uncertainty around the UK’s exit from the EU.

The body outlined that Brexit was unsettling EU staff and was beginning to affect recruitment and retention efforts – and could undermine research bids in academic medicine.

At a hearing of the Commons health select committee on 21 February, Luciana Berger, Labour MP for Liverpool Wavertree, asked what effect the EU referendum result had had on staff morale and recruitment and retention in the health service.

In response, NHS Employers chief executive Daniel Mortimer said that uncertainty with the future immigration status of EU nationals was impacting hospitals and staff.

Mortimer said: “We have put a huge amount of effort into seeking to reassure our EU colleagues and to stress the value that we place on the contribution they are making.

“Their biggest concern is the lack of certainty... and some do report some changed behaviour and some unwelcome behaviour from the public in terms of their interaction with the public.

“We are seeing a decrease in recruitment, there are lots of factors going on there, some of it is because employers haven't been out to recruit because of the lack of certainty … some of it is because actually we’re not seeing the volume of applications we’ve previously seen.

“A number [of hospitals] are reporting that the need for certainty and the lack of certainty at the moment is making them [EU staff] question whether they stay in the longer term.”

Meanwhile, Martin Green, Care England chief executive, expressed concerns about the impact on social care, pointing out: “We've got to find some mechanism to maintain the staff that we have but also to recruit more staff because the problem that we have is that we have an increasingly greater number of people who need care and support.

“It is very difficult to recruit the numbers we need from the UK population alone.”

The comments come after a survey by the BMA found that 40 per cent of EU doctors were considering leaving the UK, as a result of Brexit.

Mark Porter, BMA council chair, has again called on the government to help ensure the long-term stability of the NHS by clarifying the immigration status of EU nationals.