The impact of Brexit: EU nurse applicants have dropped by 96% since the referendum
New figures suggest that the number of EU nurses that have registered to work in the UK has dropped sharply, according to BBC News.
According to the recent statistics, while there were 1,304 EU nurses that joined the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) register in July last year, there were only 46 registering this April, which translates in a fall of 96%. The numbers should be looked upon as a ”wake-up call”, although the NMC considers that the introduction of English language testing could have also played a part in this situation, where the NHS is currently 40,000 nurses short of what is needed.
“Without EU nurses, it will be even harder for the NHS and other employers to find the staff they need to provide safe patient care. The findings should be a wake-up call to politicians and health service leaders, ” said Anita Charlesworth, director of research and economics at the Health Foundation.
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Her opinion is backed up by shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth, who thinks that the government is to blame for the current state of the NHS. “Theresa May’s weak and unstable government has pushed NHS services to the brink, and it is patients who will pay the price. Our health service has always relied on the contribution of overseas workers, yet the staff are being forced out by this government’s neglect and disregard. The Tories are overseeing an unforgivable drain of talent out of our country, because of their chaotic attitude to the Brexit negotiations,” he stated.
Norman Lamb, the health spokesman from the Lib Dem, also expressed his concern about the issue. “These figures are profoundly worrying and the possible implications for the NHS and patients cannot be underestimated,” he concluded.
The Nursing and Midwifery Council register currently has around 650,000 nurses on the register, with over 36,000 of them trained in the EU and 67,000 coming from outside the European Union.
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