Hospital ‘working hard to retain EU workers’ despite exodus after Brexit vote

A YORKSHIRE hospital has seen three times more staff from EU countries quit their jobs after the Brexit vote than before it, new research has revealed.

The investigation found that almost one in every 10 workers who left Airedale Hospital in 2016/17 was an EU national.

In 2014/15, 1.5 percent of leavers were from the EU. That figure went up to 2.5 per cent a year later, but rose to 9.3 per cent after the referendum. Airedale was the Yorkshire NHS trust most affected by post-Brexit staff resignations.

The wide-ranging investigation by the BBC’s Local News Partnership – which evaluated staffing levels at all NHS trusts in the country – found that Calderdale Hospital also saw a slight rise in leavers from 1.2 per cent to 4.9 percent post-Brexit. Sheffield Children’s Hospital also saw an increase, with almost six per cent of leavers in 2016/17 coming from the EU, compared to 2.6 per cent the year before. In Leeds, however, the city’s biggest NHS hospitals trust saw the number of new recruits from the EU (6.6 per cent of all new staff ) outstrip the number of leavers (6.1 per cent).

Jill Asbury, director of nursing at Airedale NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Over the last two years we have recruited nurses from the EU to support our nursing workforce. The majority of those recruited remain at Airedale, though some have gone back home or to work elsewhere for a variety of reasons. We continue to look at ways of retaining all staff including those from the EU.”

Lindsay Rudge, deputy director of nursing at Calderdale, said: “Over the last few years we have successfully recruited nurses from the EU. The majority of them remain with us and we continue to focus on supporting these staff to retain them in our trust. We also continue to recruit both medical and nursing staff locally, nationally and internationally.” The highest exodus of EU workers was at Tavistock & Portman NHS Trust, where more than 22 per cent of leavers postreferendum were EU nationals.