... and care system could collapse, too, says leaked Whitehall report

MILLIONS of vulnerable pensioners would be put at risk in the event of a No Deal Brexit, Whitehall officials have warned.

A leaked document from the Department of Health warned firms who provide home helps and manage care homes could collapse because of council cuts and a shortage of staff.

It warned that any Brexit-related disruption to food distribution could have a disproportionate effect on the elderly. And it said significant failings in social care would have a devastating impact on GPs and hospitals – leading to a sharp increase in bed blocking and longer waiting lists.

Worryingly, the document reveals that officials held a special exercise last week to test government responses because ‘Brexit may cause multiple providers to fail simultaneously’. Health Secretary Matt Hancock has already warned of problems in the supply of medicines.

The report said the Department of Health wanted to ‘minimise the negative impacts of No-Deal Brexit on vulnerable people’. If it is impossible to ensure uninterrupted provision ‘we want to support local authorities to meet their statutory duties to ensure continued provision of social care to vulnerable people’.

The paper was drawn up by the Department for Health’s EU exit delivery board.

Barbara Keeley, Labour Party social care spokesman, said: ‘This is an extraordinary admission from the Government that the catastrophic No-Deal Brexit which this reckless Prime Minister is driving the country toward could endanger the lives of vulnerable people.’