Nuffield Trust responds to Lancet article on Brexit and health care in the UK

Mark Dayan, Policy and Public Affairs Analyst at the Nuffield Trust, responds to an analysis in The Lancet of how Brexit may affect health and health services in the UK.

Press release

Published: 28/09/2017

“This analysis is absolutely right that Brexit will have a much wider impact on the NHS than most people realise. There is a risk that we will be cut off from the market we rely on for medicines and vital supplies. The health service will lose the escape valve of EU migration which it has been using to deal with chronic staff shortages.

“Social care, which is a vital support to the NHS, has also been relying on EU migration. Our research shows it could face a shortfall of as much as 70,000 workers in 2025 if Brexit shuts this off [2].

“This all comes at a time when the NHS is facing a big financial gap, halfway through the most austere decade in its history. The Government needs to start planning to head off these risks – or be prepared to settle a potentially big Brexit bill for the sake of the NHS and its patients.”

    Notes to editors

    1.        Read The Lancet article here.
    2.        Getting a Brexit deal that works for the NHS by Mark Dayan.
    3.        The Nuffield Trust is an independent health think tank. We aim to improve the quality of health care in the UK by providing evidence-based research and policy analysis and informing and generating debate.

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