For our health, let’s exit Brexit

WE’RE rightly proud of our health service in Wales, but perhaps not as proud as we should be.

Ask almost any health professional what challenges the NHS faces and you could be having a long conversation.

Issues around funding, staffing, access to treatment and health inequalities are well-known and frequently discussed.

Successfully addressing these issues will require all the ingenuity, drive and goodwill of politicians and health professionals alike.

Why then, when we already face all these challenges, are we inflicting the issue of Brexit on ourselves?

I’m sure we can all remember those disgraceful buses during the referendum claiming Brexit would lead to an extra £350m a week for the NHS.

We’ve never sent £350m a week to the EU, but the money we do send to the EU is more than worth it for all the benefits the EU brings us.

This includes the substantial trade and economic growth EU membership brings us. Leaving the EU will damage our economy by up to 9.5%, according to the UK Government’s own leaked figures.

This loss of funding will be damaging to our NHS, but perhaps not as damaging as the staffing crisis Brexit is already causing.

Our health and social care sectors are both largely reliant on staff from the EU, staff that are already feeling less welcome in our country because of Brexit.

Meanwhile, the UK Government’s planned post Brexit immigration system would severely restrict our ability to attract health and social care staff as huge numbers won’t meet the UK Government’s minimum £30,000 salary requirement.

We already face staffing shortages in health and social care. Pressures within the sectors are causing staff to leave prematurely, and a deeply concerning number of GPs are expected to retire in the coming years. We face an uphill battle already to address these staff shortages. If we leave the EU, we’ll not be able to replace these staff in time. As a result, waiting times will substantially increase and patient care will suffer. Medical research will be affected by both funding and staffing shortages as a result of Brexit.

The UK receives substantial research funding from the EU, participates in countless pan-European research projects and works with researchers from every corner of the EU.

Brexit is already damaging our research sector and will substantially limit our ability to develop new medicines and treatments.

A “no deal” Brexit will of course be worst for health and social care in Wales, even threatening our ability to import medicines and the radioactive materials needed for cancer treatments.

However, any form of Brexit would be immensely damaging for our health and social care systems. We must give the people the final say and the opportunity to choose an exit from Brexit in order to protect our NHS and social care.

■ Jane Dodds is leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats