‘BREXIT WILL DEEPEN NHS CRISIS’ – EXPERTS
As nurses ‘left in tears’, warning of ‘crippling staff shortage’ ahead
WALES’ winter NHS crisis could be deepened in the coming years by “crippling staff shortages” thanks to Brexit, medics have warned.
It comes as latest data shows a fall in the numbers of doctors from the European Union being recruited by the NHS in Wales.
Medics are warning that an exodus of EU workers from Welsh hospitals has already begun.
It comes as hospitals across the country battle with chronic staff shortages and rising numbers of patients over the busy winter period.
The crisis has prompted an emergency £10m cash injection into the NHS in Wales by the Welsh Government to help deal with the pressures.
But the long-term prospect for hospitals to deal with future crises will be hampered by a lack of qualified staff available to employ.
Figures released after a Freedom of Information request show a fall in the number of doctors and nurses recruited from the European Union in 2017 compared to previous years.
The latest figures – from August 2017 – show there are 1,404 EU nationals directly employed by the NHS in Wales.
According to Welsh Government “this represents a significant number of trained, qualified and dedicated staff who could not be easily replaced”.
The data shows the number of staff joining and leaving the Welsh NHS and is measured in 12-month blocks from December to the end of November the following year.
The most up-to-date figures for 2017 run to the start of September so there are still two months remaining.
In 2017, for every EU nurse who joined the NHS in Wales two left.
In 2015-16, 104 nurses were hired from the EU, the latest numbers from 2016-17 show just 22.
The Welsh NHS also saw a net exodus of 90 EU doctors in the 10 months leading to September last year.
Tina Donnelly, director of the Royal College of Nursing in Wales, put much of the trend down to a lack of clarity for post-Brexit immigration rules. She said: “We have to recognise that in relation to the EU there have been a few confusing messages regarding what would be offered to nurses from the EU registered in the UK.”
At present EU nurses and doctors are free to live and work in the UK without having to apply for work permits or visas.
Ms Donnelly said there is a lack of clarity on the length of time EU nurses will be able to stay.
Additionally they may have to have achieved a salary band of £35,000 to be able to remain beyond a certain period, like other overseas workers.
She said: “Nurses don’t earn that much. That is when we started to see an exodus. They couldn’t get the visa, so they left.”
The waters are even murkier for overseas nurses looking to get promotions within the Welsh NHS. Nursing roles are subject to a resi- dent labour market test, which means that if any qualified British person applies for the role it cannot be offered to an overseas person.
This in turn makes it harder for the nurse to reach the required £35,000 threshold, as it is hard for them to work their way up.
“If they apply for a job and a British person applies, the British person will be offered the role,” said Ms Donnelly. “Even if they are working here already. Where is the job security?”
Dr David Bailey, chair of the British Medical Association’s Welsh council, said that overseas doctors are “instrumental” in dealing with the “crippling staff shortages” the Welsh NHS was facing.
He said: “It is concerning that figures show a net fall in the number of doctors joining the Welsh NHS from overseas, at a time when we are facing unprecedented challenges and crippling staff shortages.
“BMA Cymru Wales has continued to highlight the current difficulties regarding the recruitment and retention of doctors in the Welsh NHS. Wales has always welcomed doctors who have trained in the European Union, as well as further afield, and valued their contribution to a rich, cultural diversity.
“There is no doubt that doctors from overseas are instrumental in ensuring the sustainability of the Welsh NHS and a continued decline in numbers could be disastrous for our health service, threatening the delivery of high-quality patient care.
“BMA Cymru Wales supports the action the Welsh Government has taken to simplify the sponsorship process for trainee doctors outside the EEA to help them more easily obtain visas to work here. We hope this will go some way to addressing staff shortages.
“The UK Government must act to ensure the long-term stability of the NHS, in Wales and across the UK, providing more certainty to those doctors and other NHS staff from the EU about their future in the UK.”
For many people, their GP is their first port of call if they have a health problem, and their gateway to other treatment.
Dr Paul Myres, from the Royal College of GPs Wales, insisted access to international doctors is a key tool.
He said: “These are concerning figures amid a wider workforce shortage. If the Welsh NHS is to deliver high-quality patient care we need skilled people wanting to work in our country, regardless of their origin.
“It is vital that GPs are not turned off working in the UK. Wales is a great place to live and work. Wales is experiencing a serious GP workforce short-
age and we need to expand the GP workforce by 485 GPs by 2021. In order to meet this challenge, we need to look at what can be done to increase the numbers of doctors choosing general practice as a career and to increase international recruitment, as well as ensuring we keep the valuable doctors already working here.”
In the past week, nurses in Wales have said the crisis in the Welsh NHS this winter is the worst they have ever seen. People working in hospitals have described seeing nurses in tears and say colleagues are at breaking point.
According to the Welsh Government, a hard Brexit will make it difficult to deal with this situation.
A Welsh Government spokesman said: “We have been clear that Wales must be able to retain and attract EU nationals who make a crucial contribution to our NHS. A hard or no deal Brexit could scupper our very successful NHS recruitment campaigns.
“If we don’t get a sensible deal on Brexit, where we value the ability for our health and care professionals to be able to work in each other’s countries, with skills that we need, we will fundamentally damage a significant part of our health system.”
When asked about the complications overseas staff face applying for jobs in the Welsh NHS, a Home Office spokeswoman said: “Overseas staff play a vital role in the NHS and we want to continue to attract those who bring significant benefits to the UK.
“Our recent agreement with the EU means that every EU citizen that lives in the UK – and their family – can remain here after Brexit. We are carefully considering the options for our future immigration system and will ensure it works in the best interests of the whole of the UK.”