Half of EEA doctors are considering leaving the UK

According to the British Medical Journal, almost half of doctors from other European Economic Area countries working in the UK are considering leaving in the wake of the EU referendum result, with almost a fifth having already made solid plans to relocate.

Healthcare leaders are urging the Government to offer certainty to the estimated 12,000 EEA doctors working in the NHS, who make up 7.7% of the UK medical workforce. The British Medical Association (BMA) said that recruitment from elsewhere in Europe had been a crucial way of dealing with staff shortages and warned NHS services would struggle to cope with staff leaving on such a scale.

The survey, conducted between September and November, analysed responses from 1,720 EEA doctors working in the UK.

A total of 45% said that since the referendum result they were considering leaving the UK. A further 29% said they were unsure about whether to leave.

Of those considering leaving, more than a third said that they had made plans to leave.

The top three reasons cited were Brexit, a negative attitude towards people from other EU countries working in the UK, and uncertainty over future immigration rules.

Andrew Dearden, the BMA’s treasurer, said: “That so many EU doctors are actively planning to leave the UK is a cause for real concern. Without them our health service would not be able to cope. We need an end to the uncertainty and insecurity.”