Brexit could mean £5bn for the NHS, study shows

BREXIT could give the NHS a £5billion boost, a major study has found.

The Nuffield Trust report said the NHS could get a “significant” boost if EU contributions are diverted towards healthcare. But the report warned this would depend on the state of the economy, and said Brexit posed a series of risks to the NHS.

For instance, the NHS could face a bill of £1billion every year if retired British expats who are currently cared for in Europe need to receive their treatment in Britain. The health charity said that this is twice the amount that is currently spent for them to receive their care abroad.

Under the EU reciprocal “S1” scheme, British pensioners have the right to go to any other EU member state and receive the same health care rights as the local population.

The agreement currently protects 190,000 British pensioners – costing the Department of Health about £500million a year.

If the NHS needed to care for those who currently receive care abroad, it would need a significantly higher number of hospital beds – the equivalent to two new hospitals, the authors said. They added that Brexit negotiators should try to secure a deal which would mean that expats still receive care in the country in which they reside.

The report also highlights how health and care services are dependent on EU migrant workers. They said social care faces a shortfall of as many as 70,000 workers by 2025/26 if net migration from the EU is halted.

Report author Mark Dayan, policy and public affairs analyst at the Nuffield Trust, said: “The NHS and social care were already under pressure from tight funding settlements and growing staffing problems well before the EU referendum last year. But if we handle it badly, leaving the EU could make these problems even worse.”