Brexit uncertainties could have serious implications for GPS
RCGP Scotland Comment
IFormer prime minister Tony Blair on his party’s
“contradictory” stance
“The tragedy is the price the country will pay for Labour’s failure to lead”
n May 2017, RCGP Scotland called for a guarantee of ‘protection to GPS in Scotland who came to the country from the European Union’. This had public support, with a Yougov survey showing that 59 per cent of respondents supported the statement that ‘The rights of general practitioners who are working in the United Kingdom but are citizens of other European countries should be guaranteed from the outset, and should not be part of the negotiations around the country’s exit from the European Union.’
Scotland’s declining GP workforce is already stretched beyond capacity. There is a predicted shortfall of 856 whole time equivalent GPS in Scotland by 2021. The most recent Primary Care Workforce Survey suggests a further loss of 70 more GPS between 2015 and 2017. Brexit would have worsened this situation, with a further predicted loss of up to 226 GPS. However the Westminster government has announced that EU and EEA GPS already working in the UK will be allowed to stay and work post Brexit but that is far from the end of RCGP’S concerns.
Freedom of movement has encouraged EEA GPS to come and work in the UK, but will they wish to continue to work here under a new, more restrictive arrangement?
The 96 per cent drop in our EU nursing colleagues immigrating to work in the NHS suggests not, and RCGP members from the EEA who have expressed how they feel in Scotland after Brexit would also suggest it is unlikely.
Scotland’s GP workforce crisis may well worsen as a result of Brexit, but that is not the only negative outcome.
UK taxpayers face issues around potentially higher costs for the drugs and services NHS patients use. In addition, there are serious concerns around the impact on collaborative healthcare research.
We do not yet have an indication of how visitors from EEA or EU countries will be able to access necessary healthcare when they visit. We do not know who will be responsible for managing these new systems, but it may well be expected to fall to GPS, given that they are the first point of contact for the vast majority of NHS consultations.
Will Scottish travellers come to their GP with new or deteriorated conditions that they didn’t access care for while in Europe?
These are but a few of the scenarios that create uncertainty post-brexit, all of which could have serious implications for general practice, and for the NHS as a whole. We can ask the questions – but as yet there are no answers. l The Royal College of General Practioners Scotland represents a network of around 5,000 family doctors