BMA warns of Brexit catastrophe
sensitive documents were obtained by the UK the day before the Cabinet meeting held at Chequers The BMA has warned of the “catastrophic” impact of the UK leaving the EU without a deal that preserves arrangements that govern healthcare across Europe.
A newly published BMA paper warns that a no deal scenario would raised immediate and urgent questions about the rights and status of EU nationals working in health and research across the UK.
It also expresses deep concern about the impact of no deal on patients’ rights to reciprocal healthcare arrangements in the UK and in the EU. The future supply of medicines is another aspect that would be affected if the UK government and EU fail to secure a deal.
Dr Peter Bennie, chair of BMA Scotland said: “Given the ongoing major uncertainty and the lack of any apparent progress on these issues, it has become clear to the BMA that the risks of Brexit for the nation’s health are sharply increasing. Doctors are increasingly alarmed by the ongoing failure to secure the kind of deal which will work to the benefit of patients, the medical workforce and health services in Scotland, across the UK and Europe. This new paper on a no-deal Brexit describes the consequences of such a scenario as ‘catastrophic’. This isn’t a warning we make lightly. For example, without a deal we risk losing quick and effective access to medical radioisotopes, that are vital for diagnosing particular diseases through nuclear medicine imaging techniques, treatment of cancer through radiotherapy, as well as palliative relief of pain. They cannot be stockpiled like other medicines. With the delays and uncertainty this may cause to such vital treatment, it is not hard to see why a no-deal Brexit is such a concern.”
He added: “A no-deal Brexit would also pose risks to supply and regulation of medicines. It would threaten vital health research.”