‘Brexit fears making recruitment more difficult’

More than 100 EU nationals working at hospitals in east Kent left their jobs in the run-up to and after the Brexit vote.

Figures released to the Gazette reveal the extent of the exodus, which comes against a backdrop of a huge shortage of nurses.

The east Kent hospitals trust is struggling to fill 298 nursing vacancies – the most of anywhere in the county.

Health chiefs and nursing leaders say Brexit has made recruiting staff even more difficult, largely because of the uncertainty surrounding the status of EU nationals.

In the financial year before the referendum, 62 deserted their jobs in east Kent, with a further 56 leaving since.

The Royal College of Nursing says Brexit is a key factor in the staffing issues facing hospital trusts up and down the country.

Its regional director, Patricia Marquis, says many nurses from overseas had suffered abuse and been made to feel unwelcome in the aftermath of the referendum.

“That was really problematic for a while,” she said. “What has continued is the uncertainty about what Brexit will bring and it is not clear what will happen and what will happen to their families.”

Employees from the EU are looking elsewhere for jobs as a result of that uncertainty, she claims.

“Nursing as a profession is in demand worldwide so the opportunity for staff to go back to their own countries or other countries is there and people are beginning to explore those options and taking them.”

Mrs Marquis says the introduction of English tests is also deterring would-be applicants, as is the government’s decision to end bursaries for those training to become nurses at university.

“There has been a total lack of foresight in the training of peo- ple,” she said. “There is a massive problem with recruitment in the UK because a decision was made that we needed fewer nurses now than we actually do.

“So we have a perfect storm brewing. We already have 40,000 vacancies; we have European nurses choosing to look elsewhere; we have wider problems in recruiting from overseas and potentially in the next three years a massive fall-off in the number of new nurses being trained.”

In a short statement, the East Kent Hospitals University Trust says it values its diverse workforce and continues to work hard “locally, nationally and internationally” to fill vacancies through recruitment websites, open days and fairs, and EU and non-eu recruitment campaigns overseas.

What do you think? Email kentishgazette@thekmgroup. co.uk or write to Gazette House, 5-8 Boorman Way, Wraik Hill, Whitstable, CT5 3SE.