No deal Brexit threatens to exacerbate winter crisis

The British Medical Association has warned that a no-deal Brexit followed by a winter crisis would see the NHS struggle to provide safe care to patients.

The warning comes as part of a policy paper on the dangers and likely consequences posed by a no deal, including the effect on the supply of medicines and radioisotopes, medical research, funding and the medical workforce.

With the UK’s exit from the EU fewer than 60 days away, the BMA says that disruption resulting from the UK crashing out of the EU without a deal on 1 November will cause ‘irreparable harm’ to the NHS and catastrophically exacerbate the challenges posed by a winter pressures crisis.

In his foreword to the paper, BMA council chair Chaand Nagpaul said that the association was ‘unconvinced’ by ministers' claims that no-deal contingency planning would protect the health service, adding that the public should be given the final say on leaving the EU.

He said: “The BMA is in no doubt that Brexit, and a ‘no-deal’ Brexit specifically, will irreparably harm the NHS and the nation’s health. From disruption to essential medicine supplies, patient healthcare and the movement of highly skilled doctors to the potential return of a hard border in Northern Ireland, there are no winners.

“To make a bad situation even worse, the NHS faces being plunged into a ‘no-deal’ Brexit on the cusp of winter. The NHS has always faced increased pressure on its resources across the winter period, but this year, that pressure has been relentless. Performance levels across the NHS have been missed month after month, with many performance levels at their worst since records began.”